Highly congruent total knee prostheses were introduced in the 1990s in the hope of decreasing polyethylene wear, thereby minimising loosening and particle-induced peri-prosthetic osteolysis. Despite promising long-term outcomes, substantial rates of aseptic loosening were reported with conventional gamma-irradiated polyethylene inserts, suggesting that highly reticulated polyethylene should be used instead. We assessed medium-term outcomes of the Wallaby I^® total knee prosthesis with a deep-dished tibial insert made of conventional gamma-irradiated polyethylene.

We hypothesised that the deep-dished Wallaby I^® prosthesis was associated with similar or lower rates of aseptic loosening and peri-prosthetic osteolysis compared to posterior-stabilised prostheses.

At our institution, 121 consecutive patients underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with a deep-dished cemented prosthesis (Wallaby I^®, Sulzer/Centerpulse, Zürich, Switzerland) between 2001 and 2005. Among them, 89 had complete follow-up data over a 4-year period and a mean follow-up of 96months. We retrospectively analysed the clinical and radiographic IKS scores in these 89 patients.

Osteolysis with aseptic loosening required revision TKA of 10 knees after a mean follow-up of 81months. Mean 9-year prosthesis survival was 88±17%. Four inserts exhibited evidence of delamination. A fracture of the postero-medial aspect of the tibial baseplate beneath a zone of insert wear was found in 1 knee and gross mobility of the insert on the baseplate in 6 knees. The other 79 patients had good clinical and radiographic outcomes with a mean range of active knee flexion of 108±15°.

The medium-term outcomes in our study were inferior to those reported with posterior-stabilised tibial components. Sporadic variations in polyethylene quality may explain the cases of osteolysis (shelf oxidation). In addition, the increased shear stresses related to the deep-dish design may increase backside wear, thereby compromising insert fixation to the baseplate. We believe the Wallaby I^® prosthesis should no longer be used, and we recommend computed tomography follow-up of patients harbouring this prosthesis.

Level IV (retrospective study).