The Role of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) in Management of Bone Loss and Infection in Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Review

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is widely used in joint arthroplasty to secure an implant to the host bone. Complications including fracture, bone loss and infection might cause failure of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), resulting in the need for revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA). The goals of this paper are: (1) to identify the most common complications, outside of sepsis, arising from the application of PMMA following rTKA, (2) to discuss the current applications and drawbacks of employing PMMA in managing bone loss, (3) to review the role of PMMA in addressing bone infection following complications in rTKA. Papers published between 1970 to 2018 have been considered through searching in Springer, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, Engineering village, PubMed and weblinks. This review considers the use of PMMA as both a bone void filler and as a spacer material in two-stage revision. To manage bone loss, PMMA is widely used to fill peripheral bone defects whose depth is less than 5 mm and covers less than 50% of the bone surface. Treatment of bone infections with PMMA is mainly for two-stage rTKA where antibiotic-loaded PMMA is inserted as a spacer. This review also shows that using antibiotic-loaded PMMA might cause complications such as toxicity to surrounding tissue, incomplete antibiotic agent release from the PMMA, roughness and bacterial colonization on the surface of PMMA. Although PMMA is the only commercial bone cement used in rTKA, there are concerns associated with using PMMA following rTKA. More research and clinical studies are needed to address these complications.

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The Effects of Severe Femoral Bone Loss on the Flexion Extension Joint Space in Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Cadaveric Analysis and Clinical Consequences

Orthopedics ◽

10.3928/0147-7447-20010201-14 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 121-126

Author(s):

Kenneth A Krackow ◽

William M Mihalko

Keyword(s):

Total Knee Arthroplasty ◽

Bone Loss ◽

Knee Arthroplasty ◽

Joint Space ◽

Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty ◽

Femoral Bone ◽

Flexion Extension ◽

Clinical Consequences ◽

Total Knee ◽

Cadaveric Analysis

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Outcomes of single- and two-stage revision total knee arthroplasty for chronic periprosthetic joint infection

The Bone & Joint Journal ◽

10.1302/0301-620x.103b8.bjj-2021-0224.r1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 103-B (8) ◽

pp. 1373-1379

Author(s):

Hosam E. Matar ◽

Benjamin V. Bloch ◽

Susan E. Snape ◽

Peter J. James

Keyword(s):

Total Knee Arthroplasty ◽

Knee Arthroplasty ◽

Joint Infection ◽

Recurrent Infection ◽

Primary Outcome Measure ◽

Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty ◽

Single Stage ◽

Two Stage ◽

Joint Infections ◽

Total Knee

Aims Single-stage revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA) is gaining popularity in treating chronic periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs). We have introduced this approach to our clinical practice and sought to evaluate rates of reinfection and re-revision, along with predictors of failure of both single- and two-stage rTKA for chronic PJI. Methods A retrospective comparative cohort study of all rTKAs for chronic PJI between 1 April 2003 and 31 December 2018 was undertaken using prospective databases. Patients with acute infections were excluded; rTKAs were classified as single-stage, stage 1, or stage 2 of two-stage revision. The primary outcome measure was failure to eradicate or recurrent infection. Variables evaluated for failure by regression analysis included age, BMI, American Society of Anesthesiologists grade, infecting organisms, and the presence of a sinus. Patient survivorship was also compared between the groups. Results A total of 292 consecutive first-time rTKAs for chronic PJI were included: 82 single-stage (28.1%); and 210 two-stage (71.9%) revisions. The mean age was 71 years (27 to 90), with 165 females (57.4%), and a mean BMI of 30.9 kg/m2 (20 to 53). Significantly more patients with a known infecting organism were in the single-stage group (93.9% vs 80.47%; p = 0.004). The infecting organism was identified preoperatively in 246 cases (84.2%). At a mean follow-up of 6.3 years (2.0 to 17.6), the failure rate was 6.1% in the single-stage, and 12% in the two-stage groups. All failures occurred within four years of treatment. The presence of a sinus was an independent risk factor for failure (odds ratio (OR) 4.97; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.593 to 15.505; p = 0.006), as well as age > 80 years (OR 5.962; 95% CI 1.156 to 30.73; p = 0.033). The ten-year patient survivorship rate was 72% in the single-stage group compared with 70.5% in the two-stage group. This difference was not significant (p = 0.517). Conclusion Single-stage rTKA is an effective strategy with a high success rate comparable to two-stage approach in appropriately selected patients. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2021;103-B(8):1373–1379.

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