Patelloplasty or patella resurfacing? Answer to anterior knee pain after total knee replacement in Indian patients

Abstract

Anterior knee pain remains one of the most common cause of dissatisfaction amongst post TKA patients and is a cause of revision in almost 50% cases. Management of patello-femoral joint is important to prevent anterior knee pain. Whether to resurface patella or not has been a contentious issue since inception of knee implants. Patelloplasty in recent times has shown to be a good alternative in retaining patella especially in Indians where patellar dimensions are smaller. In this study we have taken 40 patients who undergo bilateral TKA. We resurfaced patella on one side and did patelloplasty on the other in a randomly chosen manner. Both sides were compared on clinical and radiological parameters. After average follow up of 17.75 months, we found that knee society scores, patellar scores and functional outcome consistently improved with tkr and the results of both the procedures - patelloplasty or patellar resurfacing were comparable with no statistically significant difference between the two sides. In Indian population with smaller dimensions of patella, patelloplasty in an effective method to reduce anterior knee pain and prevents resurfacing related complications.