Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty: Mobile-bearing or Fixed-bearing?

Articles in Press

Document Type : EDITORIAL

Author

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain

10.22038/abjs.2025.91153.4129

Abstract

Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) is a well-known surgical technique for the management of unicompartmental knee osteoarthritis. There are two basic prosthetic designs for UKA: fixed-bearing (FB) and mobile-bearing (MB). There is still debate in the literature regarding which of the two is more recommendable, FB UKA or MB UKA. This Editorial presents important data extracted from publications about UKA. The objective is to obtain answers to a still controversial question: which of the two (FB or MB) is more recommendable? To this end, on September 8, 2025, a bibliographic search was conducted in PubMed using the keywords “UKA mobile-bearing versus fixed-bearing.” Fifteen articles were found, of which only thirteen were analyzed because they were directly related to the title of this Editorial. The main conclusion is that orthopedic surgeons should contemplate utilizing cemented FB UKA or uncemented MB UKA due to their better long-run implant survivorship compared with cemented MB UKA. However, this conclusion should be taken with care since the level of evidence is not optimal. Future studies with a high level of evidence will be needed to confirm these conclusions.

Level of evidence: III

Keywords

Main Subjects

The Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 December 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 12 September 2025
  • Revise Date: 14 October 2025
  • Accept Date: 20 September 2025

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