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INTRODUCTION
As with all other joints, the anatomical dimen-
sions of the knee differ between the sexes, and
in particular, the femoral condylar height-
width ratio [1, 2], a ratio which can impact the
adequacy of the implant size, versus the bone
surfaces, when performing a Total Knee
Arthroplasty (TKA).
As a result of this known difference, several
implants have been designed to better take into
account the differentiated female anatomy of
the knee.
To our knowledge, no reports have documen-
ted how these implants might impact proven
clinical outcomes such as pain relief, function,
stair climbing, or range of motion, while a
recent study [3] suggests no difference in
terms of clinical outcome and prosthesis survi-
val between men and women receiving a TKA.
No prospective Unicompartmental Knee
Arthroplasty (UKA) study has specifically
addressed the question of variability of the cli-
nical outcome based on sex.
Some retrospectives series report a poorer
result in men [4, 5], but the level of evidence
is inadequate. The such a difference might
exist is an important question to elucidate. The
UKA is a reliable surgical procedure, provided
it is well mastered, and performed in the
appropriate indication. For many patients, the
UKA is an alternative to the TKA, or to High
Tibial Osteotomy (HTO) [6-8]. Should the
UKA be less beneficial in male patients, this
could lead to a change in selection of surgical
options.
The purpose of this study was to quantify the
effect of gender on the clinical outcome of a
UKA. We assessed two matched groups of
40 patients with clinical and radiographic fol-
low-up of at least 2 years.
MATERIALS AND
METHODS
Between 1988 and 2006, 2280 TKA and 257
UKAwere carried out in our department. 56 of
the patients undergoing UKA (HLS Uni,
Tornier Company, Grenoble, France) were
male (21.7%), and 201 were female (78.3%).
From these patients, we studied two groups of
40 patients of either sex, matched by the pre
operative clinical and radiological presenta-
tion, and with post-operative follow up of
similar duration.
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THE EFFECT OF GENDER ON OUTCOME OF
UNICOMPARTIMENTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY
N. BARBA, S. LUSTIG, E. SERVIEN, G. DEMEY, PH. NEYRET