Patient-level improvements in pain and activities of daily living after total knee arthroplasty

Abstract

To study patient-level improvements in pain and limitations of key activities of daily living (ADLs) after primary or revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We analysed prospectively collected data from the Mayo Clinic Total Joint Registry for improvements in index knee pain severity and limitations in three key ADLs (walking, climbing stairs and rising from a chair) from pre-operative to 2 and 5 years post-TKA. The primary TKA cohort consisted of 7229 responders pre-operatively, 7139 at 2 years and 4234 at 5 years post-operatively. The revision TKA cohort consisted of 1206 responders pre-operatively, 1533 at 2 years and 881 at 5 years post-operatively. In the primary TKA cohort, important pain reduction to mild or no knee pain at 2 years was reported by 92% with moderate pre-operative pain and 93% with severe pre-operative pain; respective proportions were 91% and 91% at 5 years follow-up. For revision TKA, respective proportions were 71% and 66% at 2 years and 68% and 74% at 5 years. Three per cent with no/mild pre-operative overall limitation and 19% with moderate/severe pre-operative overall limitation had moderate/severe overall activity limitation 2 years post-operatively; at 5 years the respective proportions were 4% and 22%. Respective proportions for revision TKA were up to 3% and 32% at 2 years and 4% and 34% at 5 years. Our study provides comprehensive data for patient-level improvements in pain and key ADLs. These data can be used to inform patients pre-operatively of expected outcomes, based on pre-operative status, which may further help patients set realistic goals for improvements after TKA.