Anterior pain following knee arthroprosthesis. A comparison between two different capsuleligamentous suturing techniques

Anterior pain after knee arthroprosthesis with or without patellar resurfacing is a problem in 8 % of patients. The causes of such symptomatology may be multifactorial, divided into functional and mechanical. Among the mechanical causes, external hyper-pression of the patella emerges. Avoidance of iatrogenic damage of MPFL, MPML and MPTL ligaments, and an accurate capsular-tendinous reconstruction, are compelling to avoid such complication. Our study objective is a comparison of two different techniques and of different capsule-ligamentous reconstruction materials, following TKA. Methods Between 2010 and 2013 two different surgeons implanted 160 Vanguard knee prosthesis, without patellar resurfacing (100 CR and 10 PS), in patients with knee arthrosis. In the first group (70 % of patients), a standard capsular-ligamentous suturing technique with absorbable thread was used, while in the second group (30 % of patients), a non-absorbable monofilament suturing thread was used with Mason Allen technique, modified for the MPFL ligament. All patients have been evaluated with standard A-P and L–L knee X-ray projections and Merchant projection and with QoL protocols, pre- operatively and post-operatively at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and, to follow, yearly.