Pain at the tip of the stem after revision total knee arthroplasty

Objective: To correlate parameters of implants with incidence of pain. Methods: 32 knees (31 patients) operated on between 2006 to 2008 in a serie of cases of TKA revision surgery were monitored for evidence of pain at the tip of the stem. In all we used uncemented stem Scorpio TS Total Knee ® Revision System (Stryker ®). Criteria assessed: pain in the leg or thigh without other causes, diameter and length of the nail; position of the rod in the medullary canal, intramedullary canal diameter. Results: Mean age was 66.7 years and mean follow-up was 2.6 years.21,87% of patients reported leg pain, 9.37% thigh pain. The group of pacients with leg pain presented with shaft diameter 14.7 mm, length 80 mm in 71.42% and 155 mm in 28,58%, stem diameter/ intramedullary canal diameter average relation of 0,76, 42.8% had stem malalignment. The group without leg pain presented with shaft diameter 15.2 mm, length 80 mm in 68% and 155 mm in 32%, diameters average relation of 0.80, 20.8% had stem malalignment. The group with thigh pain presented with shaft diameter 18.3 mm, length 80 mm in 66.67% and 155 mm in 33,33%,diameters average relation of 0.75, 0% had stem malalignment The group without thigh pain presented with shaft diameter 16.56 mm, length 80 mm in 70.37% and 155 mm in 29,63%, diameters average relation of 0.79, 14,2% had stem malalignment. Conclusion: There was no association between the assessed criteria and pain in the tip of the stem.