The impact of infrapatellar fat pad excision versus preservation after total knee replacement on anterior knee pain, functional outcome and patellar height: Randomized controlled trial

Introduction Although better surgical exposure is encountered with the excision of infrapatellar pad of fat (IPPF) during total knee replacement (TKR), some studies showed an increase in anterior knee pain and other specific complications associated with such a step. The purpose of this study was to add in literature a new comparison between IPPF excision and preservation during TKR, focusing on the anterior knee pain, functional range, oxford knee score and patellar height through a randomized clinical trial Methods This prospective randomized study was conducted from 2016 to 2019 on 90 patients with knee osteoarthritis treated with elective primary TKA by same surgeons at one hospital with the same implant design with a mean follow up of 18 month. Patients were randomized into two groups: one group including patients with IPPF complete excision and the other group include patients with IPPF preservation. No patella resurfacing was done. Pre and postoperative anterior knee pain was recorded and compared using VAS score in addition to Oxford knee score. Results At 6 months follow-up, 10 knees and 14 knees (27%) had anterior aching discomfort with a mean postoperative extension were −5.3 and −5.2 in IPPF preservation and excision group patients, respectively. There was no statistically significant differences between both groups regarding anterior knee pain, range of motion, oxford knee score or patellar height measurement through the follow up period. No patellar complications were recorded in all cases. Conclusion Although Infrapatellar fat pad excision in TKA resulted in a minor increase in number of patients with postoperative anterior knee pain, it was of no statistically significant difference. Hence, whenever a better surgical exposure is needed, IPPF excision should be considered. Additional large scale randomized studies should be added to the calling literature for more result validation and guidelines formulation.