The Total Condylar III prosthesis in complex knee reconstruction.

Overview

Sixty-one Total Condylar III (TC III) prostheses were implanted in 59 patients at the authors' institution between March 1977 and December 1987. Among the knees with adequate clinical and roentgenographic data, the average follow-up period was 6.1 years. There were six primary arthroplasties and 29 revisions in this group. The primary diagnosis was osteoarthrosis in 17 patients, rheumatoid arthritis in 16 patients, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in two patients. The knee score improved from 21.9 preoperatively to 73.7 at last follow-up evaluation. Based on the knee score, there were 71% good or excellent results. There were three failures (8.6%). Radiolucent lines were present in at least one component in 71% of patients, but few of these were considered significant. Although rarely needed, the TC III prosthesis has been shown to be a satisfactory and durable solution to complex knee reconstructive problems including severe deformity, ligamentous instability, and bone loss.