Abstract
Successful total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is dependent on the correct alignment of implanted prostheses. Major clinical problems can be related to poor femoral component positioning, including sagittal plane and rotational malalignment. A prospective randomized study was designed to test whether an optical navigation system for TKA achieved greater implantation precision than a non navigated technique. The primary variable was rotation of the femoral component in the transverse plane measured from post operative radiographs and CT images. Sixty-four patients were included in the study. All patients received the Duracon total knee prosthesis. The patients were randomly divided into two groups; Group C patients underwent conventional TKR without navigation, Group N patients underwent TKR using a computer assisted Knee Navigation System. Analysis revealed that patients in Group N had significantly better rotational alignment and flexion angle of the femoral component than patients in Group C. In addition, superior post operative alignment of the mechanical axis, posterior tibial slope, and rotational alignment was achieved for patients in Group N. The use of a navigation system provides improved alignment accuracy. Specifically, it can help to avoid femoral malrotation and errors in axial alignment.
Theses abstracts were prepared by Professor Roger Lemaire. Correspondence should be addressed to EFORT Central Office, Freihofstrasse 22, CH-8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland.
