Infrapatellar Fat Pad Preservation versus Resection in Total Knee Arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: Preservation of normal-quality infrapatellar fat pads (IPFP) during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been proposed, and IPFP of abnormal quality are recommended for resection. METHODS: ), which range from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). RESULTS: score were 38.1 and 36.1 in Group 1 and were 39.2 and 37.5 in Group 2 in IPFP preservation and IPFP resection groups, respectively, resulting in between-group differences of 1.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], -1.7 to 5.6) in Group 1 and 1.6 (95% CI, -1.3 to 4.6) in Group 2. Adverse events were predominantly nonserious musculoskeletal or skin-related events (three vs. two in Group 1 and eight vs. two in Group 2). CONCLUSIONS: Resection of abnormal IPFP and preservation of normal IPFP did not improve postoperative outcomes 12 months after TKA. (Funded by National Key Research & Development Program of China, Clinical Research Startup Program of Southern Medical University, and National Natural Science Foundation of China; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03763448.).