Kellgren-Lawrence scoring system underestimates cartilage damage when indicating TKA: preoperative radiograph versus intraoperative photograph.

The preoperative radiographs using Kellgren-Lawrence underestimate the severity of knee osteoarthritis. The true extent of articular cartilage damage can be better appreciated intraoperatively. In patients undergoing primary TKA, the correlation of clinical symptoms with radiological findings is crucial in deciding when to perform the surgery. Besides, other imaging modalities may be used as an adjunct when the clinical findings and plain radiographs do not correlate.