Unicompartmental knee replacement in the elderly: a systematic review.

Unicompartmental knee replacement in the elderly may be associated with a better outcome than total knee replacement. The purpose of this review was to assess the clinical outcome in patients over the age of 70. A computerised search was performed using Pubmed and Embase. Quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Eligible studies were identified according to defined criteria and reviewed in terms of peri-operative events, functional outcome and long-term results. 20 studies, representing a minimum of 2956 knees were included. There was a significant increase in the knee society score in the majority of studies to 89.5 (objective) and 80 (function) and the median range of motion (ROM) achieved was 115 degrees. There was no peri-operative mortality and the 10 year prosthesis survival rate was 87.5-98% Revision for periprosthetic infection was low at 0.13-0.30%.