Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty combined with posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a case report

TL;DR

This case report describes a patient with knee osteoarthritis and a torn ligament who successfully underwent combined surgery to treat both issues.

Contribution

The paper introduces the first reported case of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty combined with posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Findings

The patient showed significant improvement in knee function scores three months post-surgery.

Six months after surgery, the patient's gait normalized and he could jog.

The combined surgical approach effectively addressed both osteoarthritis and ligament deficiency.

Abstract

In this study, we present the unique case of a patient with knee osteoarthritis (OA) of the medial compartment and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) deficiency who underwent simultaneous medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) and PCL reconstruction.

A 49-year-old male patient presented with a 1-year history of pain and instability in the left knee. The patient had previously experienced a trauma-related injury to the PCL of the left knee that was left untreated. Imaging and physical examination confirmed the presence of left medial knee OA along with PCL rupture. To address these issues, the patient underwent UKA combined with PCL reconstruction. The patient’s Lysholm score was 47 before surgery and 81 three months after surgery, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score was 29 before surgery and 18 three months after surgery, and the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective score was 56.3 before surgery and 74.7 three months after surgery. Six months after surgery, the patient's gait returned to normal, and he was able to jog.

This case report presents the first instance of UKA combined with PCL reconstruction and introduces a novel treatment approach for patients suffering from medial knee OA and ligament injury.

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