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Condyle location influences knee flexion after TKA
Translation kinematics effected knee flexion among patients who underwent total knee arthroplasty, with the location of the condyles having a major influence, according to study results.
Using a blocked, stratified, random sampling study design to reduce confounding and bias, researchers compared the kinematic patterns of 136 patients following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with high postoperative knee flexion (HighFlex) with the kinematic patterns of 114 patients with limited knee flexion (LowFlex). The researchers collected kinematics using fluoroscopy and 2-D to 3-D registration for weight-bearing deep knee bend activities.
Compared with LowFlex patients, HighFlex patients were significantly more posterior in both lateral and medial condylar contact positions at full extension, which remained that way at all flexion angles. The researchers found the amount of contact point translation, axial orientation angle and axial rotation were similar for the two groups. However, LowFlex patients experienced significantly higher lift-off, indicating mid-flexion instability.
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.