CORR Insights^®: Can Preoperative Patient-reported Outcome Measures Be Used to Predict Meaningful Improvement in Function After TKA?

Excerpt

As a surgical approach, TKA has been proven in countless studies to be both effective and safe for most patients. However, studies continue to show that 15% to 25% of patients are dissatisfied with the intervention [1, 2]. For a variety of reasons, including patient comorbidities, emotional health, disease-specific causes, and surgical technique problems, we have not moved the needle for the dissatisfied patient. Those of us with extensive experience would advocate that if we just perform better techniques, develop better implants, or apply the latest technology, we will solve these problems. However, we need to take a different approach, and the current study by Berliner and colleagues does just that by examining preoperative patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). …