Hinged total knee arthroplasty (TKA) implants are a commonly used option during revision or even primary surgery, but their complications are not as well known, due to the rapid adoption of gliding implants. The literature is inconsistent on this topic, with studies having a small sample size, varied follow-up duration and very different indications. This led us to carry out a large multicentre study with a minimum follow-up of 5 years to evaluate the complications after hinged TKA in a non-tumoral context based on the indications of primary arthroplasty, aseptic surgical revision or fracture treatment around the knee.

Hinged TKA was associated with a high complication rate, no matter the indication.

Two hundred and ninety patients (290 knees) were included retrospectively between January 2006 and December 2011 at 17 sites, with a minimum follow-up of 5 years. The patients were separated into three groups: primary surgery (111 patients), aseptic revision surgery (127 patients) and surgery following a recent (<3 months) fracture (52 patients: 13 around the TKA and 39 around the knee treated by hinged TKA). Patients who had an active infection the knee of interest were excluded. All the patients were reviewed based on a standardised computer questionnaire validated by the SOFCOT.

The mean follow-up was 71±39 months [range, 0 to 188]. Of the 290 patients included in the study, 108 patients (37%) suffered at least one complication and 55 patients (19%) had to undergo revision surgery: 16 in the primary TKA group (16/111, 14% of primary TKA), 28 in the revision surgery group (28/127, 22% of revision TKA) and 11 in the fracture treatment group (11/52, 21% of fracture TKA). The complications due to the hinged TKA for the entire cohort from most to least common were stiffness (41/290, 14%), chronic postoperative pain (37/290, 13%), infection (32/290, 11%), aseptic loosening (23/290, 8%), general complications (20/290, 7%), extensor mechanism complications (19/290, 6%), periprosthetic fracture (9/290, 3%), mechanical failure (2/290, 0.7%). In the primary TKA group, the main complication leading to re-operation was infection (12/111, 11%), while it was loosening for the revision TKA group (15/127, 12%) and infection (8/52, 15%) for the fracture TKA group.

The 37% complication rate for hinged TKA implants is high, with 19% of them requiring re-operation. The frequency of complications differed depending on the context in which the hinged implant was used (primary, revision, fracture). The complications requiring revision surgery were major ones that prevented patients from preserving their autonomy (infection, symptomatic loosening, fracture, implant failure). The most found complications – stiffness and chronic pain – rarely led to revision.

IV; retrospective cohort study.