Subsequent projects
Dr. Alexander Nedopil
University of Würzburg
Orthopädische Klinik - König-Ludwig-Haus
Prof. Dr. Stephen Howell
University of California, Davis
Biomedical Engineering
Is deviation from the native joint lines associated with necessity of soft tissue releases and decreased patient function after total knee arthroplasty?
Introduction:
Mechanical alignment (MA) strives to position the femoral and tibial component perpendicular to the mechanical axes of the corresponding bone which mal-aligns most the femoral and tibial components from the native femoral and tibial joint lines during total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Measuring the femoral resections and ensuring that the thickness of the femoral resection equal the thickness of the femoral component after compensating for wear and kerf of the saw blade aligns the femoral component parallel to the native joint lines. In MA the bone resections are usually not measured. The goal of this study is to measure bone resections after MA to evaluate whether deviations from the native joint line affect the necessity of soft tissue releases and patient function.
Methods:
One hundred consecutive patients treated with MA TKA will be prospectively followed. Intraoperatively, the thickness of the distal and posterior femoral resections and the thickness of the tibial resection will be measured. The difference between the recommended resection thickness to restore the orientation of the native joint line and the measured resection thickness will be calculated. The necessity of soft tissue releases will be recorded. Six months after the surgery the Oxford Knee Score (OKS) and the Forgotten Joint Score (FJS) will be obtained. The correlations between the difference of the recommended and measured resection thickness and the necessity of soft tissue releases, and the postoperative function scores will be analyzed.
Primary project: Dynamic-MRI assessment of knee kinematics and validation of rotational axes