title: Early failure of a knee replacement in a neuropathic joint. A case report.
abstract: Total knee arthroplasty in neuropathic (Charcot) joints is technically demanding. Most studies report significant improvement in knee function, despite a high incidence of complications. We present a case of idiopathic, unilateral neuropathic arthropathy of the knee treated with a modular stemmed, constrained total knee arthroplasty. Unscrewing of the stem of the tibial component was detected a year following surgery. The tibial component was revised to a custom made monobloc stemmed implant. Satisfactory knee function was noted at short-term follow-up. This case highlights a potential problem of using modular long-stem implants in neuropathic joints and emphasises the need for close follow-up of these difficult cases.
authors.affiliation: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.
authors.forename: Mohammed N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Yasin
authors.forename: Charalambos P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Charalambous
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Padmanabh M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Phaltankar
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Nurron
mesh_terms: D001177:Arthropathy, Neurogenic / Q000601:surgery*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000601:surgery*; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D008875:Middle Aged; D011475:Prosthesis Failure