TKA Patients With Pain at Midterm More Likely to be Dissatisfied

A new study from the Lexington Clinic in Kentucky has found that patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) who report pain 60-120 days postop are more likely to be dissatisfied at mid-term follow-up.

Cale Jacobs, Ph.D. is assistant professor in the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of Kentucky. He told OTW, “Approximately 15-20% of TKA patients have been reported to be dissatisfied with their surgery. With the continued increase in the number of TKAs performed annually in the U.S., this equates to more than 100, 000 dissatisfied patients each year. However, before we can begin developing interventions to potentially improve satisfaction rates, we had to first investigate the underlying factors associated with dissatisfaction.”

“Satisfaction after TKA is undoubtedly multifactorial and has been associated with patient expectations, disease severity, socioeconomic status, depression/anxiety, and race, among others. While multifactorial, the single largest risk factor of dissatisfaction roughly three years after TKA in our work was persistent pain three months after surgery. This finding emphasizes the importance of continuing to improve perioperative pain management, and that a multimodal approach must be maintained even after the patient has been discharged home.”

“Knowing that poor mid-term satisfaction potentially hinges on preventing moderate to severe pain persisting longer than three months highlights the need for continued improvements in multimodal perioperative analgesia protocols.”