Abstract
For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been recognized as one of the most effective treatments for alleviating pain and restoring physical function. Compared with osteoarthritis patients, those with RA often present with additional systemic medical, anesthetic, and musculoskeletal challenges. Due to poor soft tissue healing, a higher risk of deep wound infections, severe preoperative joint deformity and laxity, poor bone stock, and multi-joint involvement, postoperative complications following TKA can be more frequent and severe in RA patients. Despite these complexities, thorough preoperative evaluation, meticulous surgical technique, and enhanced postoperative monitoring can yield favorable clinical outcomes and significantly improve patients’ quality of life. In September 2018, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital admitted an RA patient who underwent a concurrent bilateral knee surgery: a primary TKA on the right knee and a revision TKA on the left. Notably, the resected tibial bone block from the right knee was innovatively utilized as an autograft to reconstruct the bone defect in the left knee. Here, we present this case to highlight this personalized surgical strategy.
