Abstract
Introduction: The majority of implants available in the market today were designed to allow for a flexion up to 130 degree angle. The LPS Flex was designed to accommodate deep flexion, up to 160 degree angle. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical result of the LPS Flex knee.
Materials and Methods: From January 1999 to Dec 2006, 1773(Over seventeen hundred) surgeries were performed on patients treated for advanced osteoarthritis. All the surgeries were carried out by the same surgeon. The majority of the patients had bilateral total knee replacements simultaneously. Pre-operative ranges of motion were documented on lateral x-ray. Patients were considered to have full flexion if they were able to fix the knee to at least 130 degree angle sit on the ground with calf touching thigh for at least one minute.
Results: 61% obtained full flexion as defined above. The majority of the cases with full flexion had full movement pre-operatively, except for 116 cases. Some complications were reported. There were 6 cases of peroneal nerve palsy, five of dislocation, and three of infection. There was also two case of rupture of MCL ligament, a case of intraoperative tibial plateau fracture and six of supracondylar femur fracture. Five revisions were performed.
Conclusion: The LPS Flex Implant had a similar complication rate to those reported by other series. There was no complication that could be specifically attributed to deep flexion, in general, it should be stressed that this exceptional result has to do mainly with careful patient selection.
Correspondence should be addressed to: EFORT Central Office, Technoparkstrasse 1, CH – 8005 Zürich, Switzerland. Email: office@efort.org
