Stratification of Standardized TKA Complications and Adverse Events: A Brief Communication

The Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) Complications Workgroup of the Knee Society developed a standardized list and definitions of complications associated with TKA. Twenty-two complications and adverse events believed important for reporting outcomes of TKA were identified. The Editorial Board of Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research ®, the Executive Board of the Knee Society, and the members of the Knee Society TKA Complications Workgroup came to the conclusion that reporting of a list of TKA adverse events and complications would be more valuable if they were stratified using a validated classification system. The purpose of this article was to stratify the previously published standardized list of TKA adverse events and complications. A modified version of the Sink adaptation of the Clavien-Dindo Surgical Complication Classification was applied to the list of standardized TKA complications and adverse events. The proposed stratified classifications of TKA complications were reviewed and endorsed by the Knee Society. Stratification of TKA complications will allow more in-depth and detailed outcome reporting for surgeons, hospitals, third-party payers, government agencies, joint replacement registries, and orthopaedic researchers. This improvement in reporting of TKA complications will also improve the quality of orthopaedic literature.