Early results of the Minns meniscal bearing total knee prosthesis

The preliminary results of the Minns meniscal bearing total knee replacement are presented with an average follow-up of 62.5 months (range 38-78 months). A total of 90 cemented meniscal bearing total replacements of this design were performed on 67 consecutive patients. Three died of unrelated causes and four failed to attend for follow-up investigation. Consequently, 80 knees in 60 patients were reviewed with an average follow-up time of 62.5 months. Using the American Knee Society scoring system (see Appendix 1), 82% rated good or excellent, 11% were rated fair and 6% poor. There was a clinical improvement in all cases except one patient and pain relief was achieved in most cases (96%). Five knees had some mild pain on activity post-operatively. The average range of motion post-operatively was 98 degrees and there were no cases of dislocation of the polyethylene bearings. There was a single case of radiological loosening which subsequently proved to be an infected prosthesis requiring revision surgery. Survivorship analysis (Kaplain-Meier survival curve) shows that 98.9% of the knees survived at five years follow-up. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.