DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2017.v05i01.011

Pages: 47-53

Obesity is a risk factor for developing osteoarthritis of the knee. India ranks third in the global hazard list with highest number of obese people. Our study assess the peri operative outcome in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty and analyzes whether obesity is interfering with the outcome. This is a prospective study conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Tamil nadu, India. We studied 36 patients who underwent primary total knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis of knee from the period of January 2015 to December 2015. Patients were divided into five classes of BMI, according to the WHO classification. Impact of osteoarthritis knee in obese patients was analyzed by pre operative WOMAC score. Post operative outcomes were analyzed by WOMAC Score, followed up at the end of one month, three months and six month. Paired t test & ANOVA were performed. 63.89% (23) of the patients belonged to the class of overweight. Obese people suffers more from the primary osteoarthritis, with severe deformities and severe restriction of activities. On following up, weight and BMI were noted to have negative effects on post-TKA function and quality of life. At the end of 6 months after surgery, mean WOMAC scores were 3.07, 6.625, 14.20, 26.00 and 30 in normal BMI class, over weight class, class I, class II and class III ( morbidly obese ) respectively. The change in the WOMAC scores after 6 months of surgery, were analyzed to assess the patients’ perception about the outcome and was found to have no significant difference. Our findings was found to be statistically significant with p value < 0.001. Weight and BMI were noted to have negative effects on post-TKA function and quality of life. TKR will definitely improve the quality of life and function even in obese people, but they must be made aware of the increased risk of peri-operative complications, the poorer outcome and advantages of weight loss prior to surgical treatment.