Does Cruciate-Retaining Total Knee Arthroplasty Show Better Quadriceps Recovery than Posterior-Stabilized Total Knee Arthroplasty? - Objective Measurement with a Dynamometer in 102 Knees

BACKGROUND: Cruciate-retaining (CR) prostheses have been considered to produce more physiologic femoral rollback, provide better proprioception, and result in better quadriceps recovery than posterior-stabilized (PS) prostheses after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, there are very few studies demonstrating these benefits in an objective manner. We investigated whether CR-TKA could result in (1) better quadriceps recovery; (2) a greater proportion of patients with beyond the preoperative level of recovery; and (3) better clinical outcomes than PS-TKA. METHODS: This was a prospective non-randomized comparative study on the results of CR-TKA and PS-TKA. CR prostheses were used in 51 knees and PS prostheses in 51 knees. Quadriceps force was measured with a dynamometer preoperatively and at postoperative 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months consecutively. The Knee Society score (KSS) and range of motion (ROM) were also evaluated. RESULTS: There were no differences between two groups in terms of the objective quadriceps force during the follow-up period. The proportion of patients with beyond the preoperative level of recovery was similar between groups. Moreover, the KSS and ROM were not significantly different between two groups. CONCLUSIONS: CR-TKA did not result in better quadriceps recovery than PS-TKA during the 6-month follow-up. In other words, PS-TKA could lead to comparable quadriceps recovery despite greater preoperative weaknesses such as more restricted ROM and more severe degenerative changes of the knee.