A Retrospective Study of the Risk Factors for Postoperative Foot or Ankle Pain in 90 Patients with Varus Osteoarthritis of the Knee who Underwent Total Knee Arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: The reasons for foot and ankle pain following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for knee varus osteoarthritis are unknown. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the risk factors for postoperative foot and ankle pain in patients with varus osteoarthritis of the knee who underwent TKA. MATERIAL/METHODS: We enrolled 90 patients who underwent TKA for varus knee osteoarthritis. The visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate patients’ foot or ankle pain before and after surgery. The correlation between independent variables (eg, age, sex, body mass index [BMI], ankle osteoarthritis, and varus angle) and foot and ankle pain in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee was measured. Moreover, radiological changes were compared between the groups with and without worsened pain. RESULTS: No significant difference in VAS was found between patients <60 and ≥60 years of age (P>0.05). Male sex and BMI <30 kg/m(2) were weakly correlated with preoperative foot or ankle pain. However, patients with varus of ≥6° and preexisting ankle osteoarthritis had a higher incidence of foot or ankle pain before surgery. Moreover, no significant differences in radiological changes were found between the groups with and without worsened foot or ankle pain after surgery (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In male patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, a BMI <30 kg/m(2), varus of <6°, and no preexisting ankle osteoarthritis were protective factors for foot and ankle pain. TKA corrected knee and ankle malalignment. Therefore, postoperative foot and ankle pain was not associated only with TKA surgery.