Natural history of changes in knee skin temperature following total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Patients undergoing total-knee arthroplasty (TKA) have transient increases in anterior knee skin temperature (ST) that subside as recovery progresses–except in cases of systemic or local prosthetic joint infections (PJI). This meta-analysis was designed to quantify the changes in knee ST following TKA in patients with uncomplicated recovery as a prerequisite for assessing the usefulness of thermal imaging for diagnosis of PJI. This meta-analysis (PROSPERO-CRD42021269864) was performed according to PRISMA guidelines. PUBMED and EMBASE were searched for studies reporting knee ST of patients that underwent unilateral TKA with uncomplicated recovery. The primary outcome was the weighted means of the differences in ST between the operated and the non-operated knees (ΔST) for each time point (before TKA, and 1 day; 1,2, and 6 weeks; and 3,6, and 12-months post-TKA). For this analysis, 318 patients were included from 10 studies. The elevation in ST was greatest during the first 2-weeks (ΔST = 2.8 °C) and remained higher than pre-surgery levels at 4–6 weeks. At 3-months, ΔST was 1.4 °C. It decreased to 0.9 °C and 0.6 °C at 6 and 12-months respectively. Establishing the baseline profile of knee ST following TKA provides the necessary first step for evaluating the usefulness of thermography for the diagnosis of post-procedural PJI.