Unilateral vs Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty: Risk Factors Increasing Morbidity

Because surgeons are electing to perform simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA), it is important to identify which patients are at increased risk. We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of 150 patients with unilateral TKA vs 150 patients with simultaneous bilateral TKA. The bilateral group demonstrated a 2.1 times greater mean overall complication rate as well as increased transfusion rates. Patients older than 70 years exhibited significantly higher complication rates. Having a preexisting pulmonary disorder in the bilateral cohort carried nearly a 3-fold risk of complications. Patients with body mass indices greater than 30 displayed a complication rate of 0.97 in the bilateral group as opposed to 0.44 in the control group. Our study demonstrated that age, body mass index, and a preexisting pulmonary disorder resulted in increased complications.