Information for Medical Professionals

Rotational alignment affects total knee arthroplasty outcome

The rotational alignment of femoral and tibial components during total knee arthroplasty has a significant impact on the outcome of the procedure, it has been claimed.

According to new research published in the journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, surgeons should be aware of the impact rotational alignment can have on polyethylene wear in joint replacement components.

The researchers behind the paper said: "Using fixed bone landmarks for rotational alignment leads to a notable variance between femoral and tibial components.

"Referencing the tibial rotation on a line from the medial third of the tibial tubercle to the centre of the tibial tray resulted in a better femoro-tibial rotational alignment than using the medial border of tibial tubercle as a landmark."

Looking at 80 total knee arthroplasty patients, the researchers found that femoro-tibial variance of +/- 5 degrees was evident in 67.5 per cent of cases when using medial third of the tuberosity as a reference.

Only 3.8 per cent had a femoro-tibial variance within +/- 5 degrees when using the tibial tubercle as a reference - making the former much more reliable.

Earlier research published in the journal showed that pre-operative knee alignment had no bearing on post-operative pain following high tibial osteotomy.

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