Evaluation of Functional Outcomes, Survivorship and Complications of Hypoallergenic Fixed-Bearing Medial and Lateral Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty: A Minimum 2-Year Follow-Up

Background: Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is a viable treatment option for patients with isolated knee osteoarthritis. This study evaluated the clinical outcomes of the JUK II (Smith & Nephew, Memphis, TN, US) hypoallergenic, fixed-bearing UKA implant in a medium cohort of patients undergoing both medial and lateral procedures with a short-term follow-up. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on 257 consecutive patients who underwent primary UKA using the JUK II implant between December 2020 and December 2022. Clinical outcomes were assessed using the Knee Society Score (KSS), Knee Society Function Score (KSFS), Oxford Knee Score (OKS), UCLA Activity Score, Forgotten Joint Score (FJS-12) and the satisfaction. Survivorship analysis was performed, and complications were recorded. Results: At a 2-year follow-up, the implant survival rate was 99.61%. Statistical significant improvements were observed in all clinical scores, with high patient satisfaction. The mean UCLA Activity Score increased from 4.53 preoperatively to 7.3 at 24 months. Conclusions: This study demonstrates promising short-term clinical outcomes for the hypoallergenic fixed-bearing medial and lateral UKA implant, with high patient satisfaction and a low complication rate. Further studies with longer follow-up periods are warranted to confirm these findings.