Objective To study the effect of multi-disciplinary treatment (MDT) on the surgical efficacy and satisfaction of patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for the first time. Methods The clinical data of patients who underwent unilateral TKA for single-compartment osteoarthritis of the knee in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University between January and September 2022 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. According to whether MDT was performed on patients during the perioperative period, they were divided into MDT group and traditional group. Perioperative nutrition-related indicators, perioperative complications, total hospitalization time, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and Hospital for Special Surgery Knee Score (HSS) before and after surgery were detected and recorded. Results A total of 95 patients were included. Among them, there were 42 cases in the MDT group and 53 cases in the traditional group. The postoperative complications and total hospital stay of patients in the MDT group were lower than those in the traditional group, and their satisfaction scores were higher than those in the traditional group (P<0.05). The perioperative serum total protein (TP), hemoglobin (Hb), serum albumin (ALB) levels, VAS score, and HSS score of both groups of patients changed over time. The intra group comparison results showed that compared with preoperative, the levels of TP, Hb, and ALB in both groups decreased on the 1st and 3rd postoperative days (P<0.05). On the 3rd day after surgery, the levels of TP, Hb, ALB in the MDT group and Hb, ALB in the traditional group were lower than on the 1st day after surgery (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in TP levels between the traditional group on the 3rd day after surgery and the 1st day after surgery (P>0.05). The results of intra group comparison at different time points showed that there were statistically significant differences in VAS score and HSS score between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion The application of MDT in elderly patients undergoing unilateral TKA for the first time can shorten the total hospitalization time, reduce the incidence of perioperative complications, and improve the surgical efficacy and patient satisfaction.