Postoperative Evaluation (E.g., PROMs)

Traditionally, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) outcomes have been assessed using surgeon-focused metrics such as prosthesis durability and complication rates. However, patients prioritize pain relief, improved knee function, and unrestricted daily activities, including sports. Nevertheless, 10–25% of patients remain dissatisfied postoperatively due to residual symptoms and unmet expectations. This underscores the need to incorporate patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to evaluate TKA success from the patient’s perspective. Generic health-related quality of life instruments often inadequately capture TKA-specific outcomes due to low responsiveness and ceiling effects. Thus, specialized PROMs like the WOMAC, KOOS, OKS, KSS-2011, and FJS-12 have been developed to more accurately assess patient experiences. Selecting appropriate PROMs is crucial for precise outcome measurement and comparison across studies, despite challenges like subjectivity and potential ceiling effects. Combining TKA-specific PROMs with surgeon-reported evaluations provides a more comprehensive assessment, underscoring the growing importance of patient satisfaction and quality of care in healthcare evaluation.