ArticleBMC surgery2024
The interval between staged bilateral total knee arthroplasties does not affect early complications of the second knee or long-term function of the first and second knees.
Article in BMC surgery, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association of interstage timing and prior surgical response with outcomes following staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty: A retrospective cohort study.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Second-Stage Knee Pain is Not Increased After Staged Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Retrospective Linear Mixed-Effects Analysis of 72-Hour Postoperative Pain.Orthopedic research and reviews · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study explored the optimal time interval between staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty (BTKA) to minimize early complications of the second TKA and maximise the long-term function of the first and second knees.
methodsWe retrospectively reviewed 266 patients who underwent staged BTKA between 2013 and 2018. Groups 1-4 had time intervals between BTKAs of 1-6, 6-12, 12-18, and 18-24 months, respectively. Demographics, postoperative complications within 90 days of the second TKA, Knee Society Score (KSS), and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) score were compared among the groups.
resultsIn total, 54, 96, 75, and 41 patients were assigned to groups 1-4, respectively. Although group 1 had the highest overall complication rate (11.11%), there was no significant difference in the complication rate among the four groups. Also, no significant differences were found among the four groups in functional and patient-reported outcomes, in either the first or second knee at 5 years postoperatively, including KSS-knee, KSS-function, WOMAC-pain, WOMAC-stiffness, and WOMAC-physical function. The interval between BTKA did not influence complications or the function of the second knee. The TKA type (posterior-stabilised vs. medial-pivot) and age did not correlate significantly with any scores.
conclusionsThere was no group difference in early complications of the second TKA, and postoperative function was equivalent between the two knees and did not vary by the interval between surgeries. The results of this study give surgeons and patients more choices. If patients cannot tolerate severe symptoms in the contralateral knee after the first TKA, the second TKA should be performed as early as possible. If knee joint function is not well recovered after the first TKA, and patients are anxious to undergo the second TKA, surgeons can advise patients to postpone the operation based on these results.
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