Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to determine the
long-term results of a series of 150 consecutive primary posterior stabilized
modular knee arthroplasties that had been performed in 118 patients with use
of a circumferential tibial insert capture as described in a previous report,
published in 1997. The patients were evaluated with use of a
patient-administered questionnaire; Knee Society clinical, functional, and
radiographic scoring systems; and Kaplan-Meier survivorship analysis. A good
to excellent result was confirmed in seventy-six (90%) of the eighty-four
patients (105 knees) with a mean duration of follow-up of twelve years (range,
ten to thirteen years). At twelve years, the survival rate was 94.6% ±
4.0% with failure for any reason as the end point and 98.3% ± 2.4% with
mechanical failure as the end point. Revision surgery was performed in five
knees because of infection (two knees), dislocation (one knee), and
substantial polyethylene wear with femoral osteolysis (two knees). We
concluded that, while fixation failure is rare, polyethylene wear and
osteolysis are emerging as important causes of failure.
Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions
to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.