Perioperative and frailty outcomes after total knee arthroplasty: a retrospective cohort study.

Abstract

Background: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a common procedure with an increasing demand, especially among the elderly. Frailty is known to be associated with adverse perioperative outcomes in the older population. In this article, we aimed to understand the associations of preoperative frailty status and comorbid conditions in relation to their clinical and healthcare outcomes after TKA, and to describe the perioperative factors leading to improvement in a patient's frailty status after TKA.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study, and the outcomes were assessed over 2 years. Frailty is defined by the Clinical Frailty Score.

Results: A total of 96 patient records were assessed, of which 13 (13.5%) patients were robust and 83 (86.5%) patients were prefrail or frail. Two years after TKA, the number of robust patients increased to 58 (61.7%) patients, showing a reversal of frailty in 48.2% of patients.

Conclusion: Total knee arthroplasty in prefrail and frail patients is a safe procedure that leads to improvement of frailty status, with an increase in the proportion of patients becoming robust within 2 years after the operation.