Unicompartmental or total knee replacement? Arthritis five-year results ofa prospective, randomised trial of 102 osteoarthritic knees with unicompartmental arthritis

We randomised 102 knees suitable for a unicompartmental replacement to rece ive either a unicompartmental (UKR) or total knee replacement (TKR) after a rthrotomy. Both groups were well matched with a predominance of females and a mean age of 69 years. Patients in the UKR group showed less perioperative morbidity, but regained knee movement more rapidly and were discharged from hospital sooner. At five years, two UKRs and one TKR had been revised; another TKR was radio logically loose. All other knees appeared to be clinically and radiological ly sound. Pain relief was good in both groups but the number of knees able to flex gr eater than or equal to 120 degrees was significantly higher in the UKR grou p (p < 0.001) and there were more excellent results in this group. Our findings have shown that UKR gives better results than TKR and that thi s superiority is maintained for at least five years.