Bone Quality of the Calcaneus 5 Years After Total Knee Arthroplasty

We used non-invasive broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) to determine whether the pre-surgical bone quality of the calcaneus was improved 5 years postoperatively, and whether the interval between total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgeries influenced post-surgical calcaneal bone quality. All patients underwent scheduled, staged, bilateral TKA. Twenty-one patients (42 TKAs) with bilateral knee osteoarthritis were evaluated. One day before and 5 years after TKA, BUA through the os calcis on the surgical side was measured. Fourteen out of 21 patients showed post-surgical improvement in BUA bilaterally. When all 42 cases were considered together there was a significant improvement in BUA 5 years after surgery (P = 0.042). There were no significant correlations between the changes in BUA on each side and the interval between TKA surgeries.