BACKGROUND
Over the past decades, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in China has increased substantially. Owing to a lack of a joint registry, there is restricted information concerning the epidemiology of TKA failures in China. We aimed to (1) investigate the etiology of TKA failures in a cohort of Chinese patients and (2) determine the related demographic and anthropometric risk factors in Jilin, China, to have a look at the actual situation.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A total of 1927 primary and 109 revision TKAs performed between April 2014 and May 2022 were analyzed in this retrospective study. Patient demographics and anthropometric measures, the interval from primary TKA to revision procedures, and the mechanisms for primary TKA failure were evaluated. A chi-square test, unpaired t test, and multivariate logistic regression were used to investigate the relationships between different factors and TKA failures.
RESULTS
The leading failure mechanism was infection (53.3%), followed by aseptic loosening (21.5%), stiffness (15.0%), instability (3.7%), malposition (2.8%), periprosthetic fractures (2.8%), and extensor mechanism disruption (0.9%). Infection (59.7%) was the main reason for early revision. Aseptic loosening (43.3%) was the leading cause of late revision. The male ratio in infection patients was higher (35.1% vs 20.6%). The smoking rate in patients with revision and infection was higher (18.9%, 23.9% vs 7%) than in primary patients. There was no difference in BMI between groups.
CONCLUSIONS
The leading cause of revision TKA in Jilin, China, was infection, followed by aseptic loosening and stiffness. Sex and smoking history were associated with TKA failures in this region.

Keywords: Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; China; Epidemiology; Reoperation