Orthopaedic crossfire®—allpatellae should be resurfaced during primary total knee arthroplasty: In the affirmative

Patients with inflammatory arthritis, crystallinedeposition disease, or severe patellofemoral arthritis havesuperior functional results with patellar resurfacing as comparedwith patellar retention. The only remaining issue is whetherthere is any advantage to resurfacing or retention in patientswith osteoarthritic knees in the absence of severe patellofemoralarthritis. Although the answer is still unclear from availableprospective randomized clinical trials, the evidence leans towardroutine resurfacing of the patella during primary total kneearthroplasty in osteoarthritic knees too. Evidence exists thatthe results of patellar retention in osteoarthritic kneesdeteriorate with longer follow-up study. Long-term follow-upevaluations of available prospective clinical trials will beneeded to assess this controversy more definitively. © 2003Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.