The purpose of this study was to examine whether three types of mobile-bearing PCL sacrificing TKA could restore the native knee translation and rotation. The primary hypothesis was that there are differences in knee kinematics and laxity between three different cruciate-substituting TKA designs: 1 with post-cam mechanism, 2 post-cam mechanism based on an inter-condylar ‘third condyle’ concept, 3 anterior stabilized with deep-dished highly congruent tibial insert; specifically, showing different femoral external rotation with flexion, different femoral translation with flexion and different laxity under stress test. The secondary hypothesis was that there is different clinical outcome between the three TKA designs at 2 years follow-up. We recruited 3 cohorts consisting of 30 patients each divided according 3 different TKA designs. All patients were operated with navigated procedure. During surgery preoperative and postoperative kinematics were recorded, in terms of femoral antero-posterior translation and tibial rotation during knee flexion, as also preoperative and postoperative at 2 years follow-up clinical scores have been acquired.Introduction
Methods
Providing proper rotational alignment of femoral component in total knee arthroplasty is mandatory to achieve correct kinematics, good ligament balance and proper patellar tracking. Recently functional references, like the function flexion axis (FFA), have been introduced to achieve this goal. Several studies reported the benefits of using the FFA but highlighted that further analyses are required to better verify the FFA applicability to the general clinical practice. Starting from the hypothesis that the FFA can thoroughly describe knee kinematics but that the joint kinematics itself can be different from flexion to extension movements, the purpose of this study was to analyse which factors could affect the FFA estimation by separately focusing on flexion and extension movements. Anatomical acquisitions and passive joint kinematics were acquired on 79 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty using a commercial navigation system. Knee functional axis was estimated, from three flexion and extension movements separately acquired included in a range between 0° and 120°. For flexion and extension, in both pre- and post-implant conditions, internal-external (IE) rotations was analysed to track any changes in kinematic pattern, whereas differences in FFA estimation were identified by analysing the angle between the FFA itself and the transepicondylar axis (TEA) in axial and frontal plane.Introduction
Methods
Several methods, based on both functional and anatomical references, have been studied to reach the goal of a proper knee kinematics in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, at present, there is still a large debate about which is the most precise and accurate method to achieve the correct rotational implant positioning. One of the main methods already used in TKA to describe the tibiofemoral flexion-extension movement, based on a kinematic technique, thus not influenced by the typical variability related to the identification of anatomical references, is called “functional flexion axis” (FFA) method. The purpose of this study was to determine the repeatability in estimating knee functional flexion axis, thus evaluating the robustness of the method for navigated total knee arthroplasty. Passive kinematic and anatomical acquisitions were performed with a commercial navigation system on 87 patients undergoing TKA with primary osteoarthritis. Knee FFA was estimated, before and after implant positioning, from three flexion-extension movements between 0° and 120° (Figure 1). The angle between Functional Flexion Axis and an arbitrary clinical reference, the transepicondylar axis (TEA), was analysed in frontal and axial view (Figure 2). Repeatability Coefficient and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were estimated to analyse the reliability and the agreement in identifying the axis.Introduction
Methods
The use of a surgical navigation system has been demonstrated to allow to intraoperatively analyze knee kinematics during total knee arthroplasty (TKA), thus providing the surgeon with a quantitative and reproducible estimation of the knee functional behaviour. Recently severak authors used the computer assisted surgery (CAS) for kinematic evaluations during TKA, in particular to evaluate the achievement of a correct joint biomechanics after the prosthesis implantation. The major concern related to CAS is that the movements are usually passively performed, thence without a real active task performed by the subject. Starting from the hypothesis that the passive kinematics may properly describe the biomechanic behaviour of the knee, the main goal of this work was to intra-operatively compare the active kinematics of the limb, analysing a flexion movement actively performed by the patient, and the passive kinematics, manually performed by the surgeon. The anatomical and kinematic acquisitions were performed on 31 patients TKA using a commercial navigation system (BLU-IGS, Orthokey, USA). All the surgeries were performed under local anesthesia, which specifically allowed to acquire the passive and active kinematics including three flexion movements. Both in pre- and post-implant conditions, internal-external (IE) rotations and anterior-posterior (AP) translations were estimated to track any changes in the kinematic pattern.Introduction
Methods
The optimal reference for rotational positioning of femoral component in total knee replacement (TKR) is debated. Navigation has been suggested for intra-op acquisition of patient's specific kinematics and functional flexion axis (FFA). To prospectively investigate whether pre-operative FFA in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and varus alignment changes after TKR and whether a correlation exists between post-op FFA and pre-op alignment.Background
Questions/Purposes
The optimal reference for rotational positioning of femoral component in total knee replacement (TKR) is debated. Navigation has been suggested for intra-op acquisition of patient's specific kinematics and functional flexion axis (FFA). To prospectively investigate whether pre-operative FFA in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and varus alignment changes after TKR and whether a correlation exists between post-op FFA and pre-op alignment.BACKGROUND:
QUESTIONS/PURPOSES:
Several in vitro and in vivo studies have found correspondence between transepicondylar axis (TEA) and functional flexion axis (FFA) in healthy subjects. In addition some studies suggest that the use of FFA for rotational alignment of femoral implant may be more accurate than TEA. Ostheoarthritis (OA) may modify limb alignment and therefore flexion axis, introducing a bias at different flexion ranges during kinematic acquisition. In this study we want to understand whether OA affects somehow the FFA evaluation compared to TEA and whether the FFA could be considered a usable reference for implant positioning for osteoarthritic knees We included a group of 111 patients undergoing TKA. With a navigation system, we recorded intraoperative kinematic data in three different ranges of motion (0°-120°; 35°-80°; 35°-120°). We compared the difference in orientation of FFA (computed with the mean helical axis method) in the three ranges as also the difference with the TEA on frontal and axial planes. The correlation of preoperative limb deformity with FFA and TEA was also performed.Introduction
Methods
Patellar stability is an important component for a correct kinematic behaviour of the knee that depends on several factors such as joint geometry, muscles strength and soft tissues actions. Patellofemoral (PF) maltracking can results in many joint disorders which can cause pain and mobility alterations. The medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) is an important stabilizing structure for the patellofemoral joint. The aim of this study was to analyze patellofemoral kinematics with particular attention to the contribution of MPFL on patella stability. Using a navigation system PF kinematics during passive flexion/extension movements with quadriceps loaded at 60N, was recorded on 6 cadavers in three different anatomical conditions: intact knee, MPFL cut and MPFL reconstructed with graft. Test on patella was conducted without lateral force and with applied lateral force (25N). Tilt and lateral shift was evaluated in both cases at 0°. 30°, 60°and 90° of flexion.Introduction
Methods
