Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty

Current Concepts Review

Abstract

• » Bilateral total knee arthroplasty (BTKA) is an effective surgical treatment for bilateral knee arthritis and can be performed as a simultaneous surgery under a single anesthetic setting or as staged surgeries on separate days.
• » Appropriate patient selection is important for simultaneous BTKA with several factors coming into consideration such as age, comorbidities, work status, and home support, among others.
• » While simultaneous BTKA is safe when performed on appropriately selected patients, current evidence suggests that the risk of complications after simultaneous BTKA remains higher than for staged BTKA.
• » When staged surgery is preferred, current evidence indicates that complication risks are minimized if the 2 knees are staged at least 3 months apart.
• » Simultaneous BTKA is the economically advantageous treatment option relative to staged BTKA, primarily because of shorter total operative time and total hospital stay.