Sports and Functional Activities Following Unicondylar Knee Arthroplasty

The goal of knee arthroplasty is to decrease pain and increase function, and UKA has been shown to have improved knee kinematics, range of motion, and functional outcome scores. This chapter reviews the published literature on patient activity and participation in sports following UKA. Functional and clinical outcome scores used to assess patients following lower extremity surgery have varying levels of ceiling effects. It is important to know whether the comparative time frame is the patient’s pre-arthritic functional level or their functional level just prior to arthroplasty. UKA improves pain and activity levels, but also aims to return patients to pre-symptom level. Studies have compared post-operative activity level to pre-symptom level, with improvements in UCLA and Tegner activity levels. UKA implant survivorship is affected by activity level, but polyethylene wear is not a major issue due to improved manufacturing and decreased wear and oxidation. Patients who undergo UKA can expect to return to most activities they participated prior to knee symptoms. Certain activities such as skiing and jogging may decline, while others such as swimming may increase. There does not appear to be a negative effect of increased activity on the survivorship of UKA.