Maximizing patient satisfaction and functional results after total knee arthroplasty.

The purpose of this article is to review the issues regarding preoperative patient expectations for total knee arthroplasty and whether or not these are fulfilled after surgery. The demographics of the typical total knee arthroplasty patient are changing, and the expectations regarding the outcome of the surgery have been changing as well. Patients are younger, heavier, more active, and often come to the surgeon's office with information provided via the Internet that may be inaccurate and/or misleading. Many expect and assume that the operation will return the knee to "normal." Traditional outcomes measures used by orthopedic surgeons to determine the quality of the results achieved are inadequate and do not take into account the higher expectations of current patients. Various strategies have been developed to improve satisfaction after the surgery. These include preoperative patient education, less invasive surgical approaches, advances in prosthetic design, multimodal pain management, and aggressive postoperative rehabilitation. Using these strategies will make preoperative expectations more realistic and improve postoperative satisfaction.