A 5-10 year follow-up of the Sheehan total knee endoprosthesis in Tayside.

The Sheehan total knee endoprosthesis has been widely used since 1971. It takes the form of a semi-constrained hinge with intramedullary stems cemented into the femur and tibia for fixation. In Tayside the prosthesis has been in use since 1980. The clinical impression was that the prosthesis was not performing well and formal assessment of surviving prostheses was therefore carried out using the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) scoring system. Thirty-seven patients were available for follow-up, 15.6% of whom had good results while 40% had poor results according to this assessment. At review, 31% of patients had undergone revision surgery or were awaiting such surgery. This compares poorly with reported results of surface joint replacements. In the light of these results the authors feel that the Sheehan knee replacement is now obsolete.