Short-term effectiveness of medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty in young patients aged less than or equal to 60 years

Purpose: The treatment for young patients with advanced knee arthritis by Oxford unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (Oxford-UKA) is still controversial. A relative few studies were published about Asian patients. We evaluated midterm results of Oxford-UKA in young patients aged less than or equal to 60 years. Methods: Between December 2009 and December 2018, 95 patients (109 knees) (mean age 57.48 years; range: 33-60 years) were included. The mean follow-up period was 3.0 years (range: 1.0-9.5 years). The functional outcomes and pain score of the knee before and after surgery were examined. Results: To the last follow-up, no patient died, six patients (nine knees) were lost and one patient underwent total knee revision in case of unexplained postoperative pain. The patients demonstrated significant improvement in range of knee motion (103.65 vs. 115.96,p< 0.05), Oxford Knee Score (40.0 vs. 14.4,p< 0.05), Hospital for Special Surgery Score (56.0 vs. 85.7,p< 0.05), and Visual Analogue Score (VAS) (5.23 vs. 1.08,p< 0.05) before and after surgery. Conclusion: Our midterm results showed that the Oxford-UKA was a reliable and effective treatment option for young patients aged less than or equal to 60 years with anterior medial osteoarthritis. The knee pain can be effectively relieved and excellent functional activities of the knee joint can be obtained after surgery.