Evaluation of the functional outcome of total knee replacement in rural population

Abstract

Total knee replacement (TKR) is a surgical procedure with predictable outcomes. Rural areas have less specialized doctors and facilities and the people may not understand the various protocols associated with surgeries. This observational study intended to review the outcome of total knee replacements performed in a rural population and evaluate the postoperative clinical, functional and radiological results in the replaced knees and the preoperative and postoperative lower limb alignment correction achieved and the incidence of early complications. We selected 26 people (30 knees) from the outdoor clinic who gave their informed consent for the study and satisfied our criteria. They were evaluated using the knee society score (KSS), preoperatively and postoperatively at the 3 months follow up and the data was analysed using the statistical program for social sciences (SPSS). In our study we observed that the mean knee society score improved from 29 to 83.4 and the mean functional score improved from 35 to 83.5. The knee flexion range increased from 56.20 to 1110. Postoperatively all knees were aligned in valgus except for 3 knees. Complication rate was 6.6%. We found a significant increase in the knee society score after total knee replacement compared to the preoperative scores. We conclude that total knee replacement is a reliable and safe modality of treatment and can be performed in the rural population with results comparable to the other global studies.