NIH Consensus Statement on Total Knee Replacement December 8-10, 2003

Based on existing research evidence, total knee replacement (TKR) is a safe and cost-effective treatment for alleviating pain and restoring physical function in patients who do not respond to nonsurgical therapies. There are few contraindications to this surgery as it is currently used. Overall, TKR has been shown to be a very successful, relatively low-risk therapy despite variations in patient health status and characteristics, type of prosthesis implanted, orthopaedic surgeons, and surgical facilities. Improvements can be made in overall success of TKR by addressing each of these areas of variation through further research. Each year, approximately 300,000 TKR surgeries are performed in the United States for end-stage arthritis of the knee joint. As the number of TKR surgeries performed each year increases and the indications for TKR extend to younger as well as older patients, a review of available scientific information is necessary to enhance clinical decision-making and stimulate further research.