Is the routine examination of surgical specimens worthwhile in primary total knee arthroplasty?

Two thousand two hundred eighty-nine consecutive primary total knee arthrop lasties performed between 1993 and 1996 were reviewed retrospectively to as sess the utility and cost effectiveness of the routine examination of surgi cal specimens. In those cases where a discrepancy was seen between the clin ical and pathologic diagnoses, the records were reviewed carefully and thos e patients were contacted to determine whether their subsequent treatment w as altered as a result of the pathologic findings. In 10 cases there was a potentially important discrepancy between the clinical and pathologic diagn oses. In none of those 10 cases was the subsequent treatment of the patient altered as a result of the pathologic findings. This study suggests a reex amination of regulations that mandate the routine pathologic review of surg ical specimens from primary total knee arthroplasties.