Total Knee Arthroplasty After Fractures About the Knee

It has been estimated that posttraumatic arthritis accounts for over $3 billion in annual health-care costs in the United States and that posttraumatic arthritis comprises approximately 9.8% of all cases of knee arthritis (Brown et al., J Orthop Trauma 20:739–744, 2006). Patients who have undergone previous knee surgery receive total knee replacement at a significantly younger age than patients with primary osteoarthritis (Brophy et al., J Bone Joint Surg Am 96:801–805, 2014). Yet, nearly one half of periarticular knee fractures occur in the patients older than 50 years (Bohm et al., J Bone Joint Surg Br 94:1160–1169, 2012; Mallina et al., Knee 17:181–186, 2010). In particular, distal femoral fractures are more common in the older patients than in younger patients (Bohm et al., J Bone Joint Surg Br 94:1160–1169, 2012), with an annual incidence of approximately 20 cases per 100,000 persons over 50 years old (Mallina et al., Knee 17:181–186, 2010).