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Study finds superior tibial alignment with portable TKA navigation system
In a prospective, randomized controlled study of 100 patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty, the use of portable, accelerometer-based navigation in 50 patients proved superior to traditional extramedullary guides that were used in 50 patients to improve tibial component alignment.
“This study demonstrates that the portable, accelerometer-based navigation significantly reduces the number of ‘outliers’ for tibial component alignment in both the coronal and sagittal planes,” Denis Nam, MD, and colleagues wrote in their study. “These results are similar to those previously reported comparing the results of large-console computer navigation versus conventional, [extramedullary] EM alignment methods.”
The researchers randomized patients to undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with either an EM alignment method or the KneeAlign portable, accelerometer-based navigation device (OrthAlign Inc., Aliso Viejo, Calif.). They measured the standing anteroposterior view hip-to-ankle radiographs and standing lateral view knee-to-ankle radiographs at the first postoperative follow-up and found 96% of components in the navigation group were within 2° of being perpendicular to the tibial mechanical axis, according to the abstract.
Nam and colleagues found 68% of components in the EM group were within that same range.
Regarding component orientation to the posterior slope, the results showed in the navigation group 95% of tibial components were within 2° to 3° and 72% of components were within that range in the EM group.
Disclosure: Nam has no relevant financial disclosures. OrthAlign provided funds for a research assistant for this study.