Total knee arthroplasty effectiveness in patients 55 years old and younger: osteoarthritis vs. rheumatoid arthritis.

In the past, total knee arthroplasty, although very successful, was only indicated for an elderly population. Recently though, several papers have been published confirming that total knee arthroplasty is effective in younger patients. This paper supports the results of those papers. In our study, 207 total knee arthroplasties were performed on patients 55 years old and younger using a posterior cruciate-retaining prosthesis. There was an overall survival rate of 97.6% with an average follow-up of 9.1 years. There were some minor variations in the outcome of the operation based on diagnosis (osteoarthritis vs. rheumatoid arthritis). The success also continued over time with an estimated survival rate of 94.8% at 12 years. Total knee arthroplasty is an effective operation in patients younger then 55 years old.