Simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty in patients with end-stage hemophilic arthropathy: a mean follow-up of 6 years

To investigate the safety, cost-effectiveness, and clinical outcomes of simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in hemophilic arthropathy (HA), the requirements for transfusions, complications, costs, hospital stays, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) knee scores, knee range of motion (ROM) and revision rates were compared between simultaneous bilateral and unilateral TKA in HA patients. A total of 36 patients and 54 knees were included. Compared to the unilateral group, the bilateral group did not require more transfusions (2.39 ± 3.13 vs 0.83 ± 1.38 units of RBCs, p > 0.05) or consumption of coagulation factors (50091.67 ± 25168.5 vs 46477.78 ± 11348.32 IU, p > 0.05), complications rate (13/36 vs 6/18, p > 0.05), hospital stay (32.39 ± 19.77 vs 29.11 ± 12.67 days, p > 0.05), or costs excluding prostheses (14945.41 ± 6634.35 vs 14742.12 ± 5746.78 US dollars, p > 0.05). Additionally, the two groups exhibited similar medium-term knee HSS scores (83.67 ± 7.11 vs 81.00 ± 10.35, p > 0.05) and ROM (89.39° ± 13.66° vs 88.91° ± 12.90°, p > 0.05). Our data indicate that bilateral TKA is a safe and cost-effective treatment for HA with similar medium-term results compared to unilateral TKA.