Research: Better measure of knee replacement outcomes needed

There is a growing need for a better method of measuring the outcomes of knee replacement surgery, a study has found.

Research published in the Journal of Knee Surgery has found that a variety of scoring systems are in use and these are difficult to meaningfully compare.

A comparison of the American Knee Society (AKS) system and Oxford Knee Score (OKS) classifications found they do not significantly correlate.

A negative correlation between the schemes and functional score was found at two years, although a 0.5 correlation was found at five and ten-year intervals.

"This study indicates that the OKS, with its easier analysis and higher compliance rate, can be used more directly to compare studies using the AKS," the authors concluded.

This could affect research such as a study recently published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery which found that the outcome for joints implanted in knee replacement surgery can be negatively affected by obesity.

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