The results of fifty-four geometric total knee arthroplasties in
forty-four patients with definite or classic rheumatoid arthritis were
analyzed twenty-four to sixty-four months after the surgical procedure.
There were no operative deaths, no postoperative infections, and no known
pulmonary emboli. Three patients required additional operative procedures
on the knee: one, a patellectomy for pain one year after arthroplasty; the
second, resection of tibial bone and reinsertion of the tibial component to
correct a flexion contracture; and the third, replacement of the tibial
component because of loosening. The relief of pain and increase in ability
to carry out the activities of daily living were dramatic in these
patients, who, because of the limitations imposed by their rheumatoid
arthritis, applied minimum stress on the prosthetic knees. Postoperatively,
the average arc of knee flexion was 104 degrees.