The anterior-posterior laxity after total knee arthroplasty inserted with a ligament tensor

• Published in: Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA Vol. 15; no. 8; pp. 1019 - 1022
• Main Authors: van Hal, C T H, van Hellemondt, G G, Wymenga, A B, Jacobs, W C H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Springer Nature B.V 01.08.2007
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee - instrumentation; Female; Femur - surgery; Flexibility; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Joint Instability - etiology; Joint Prosthesis; Joint surgery; Knee; Knee Joint - physiopathology; Knees; Ligaments; Male; Middle Aged; Patients; Posterior Cruciate Ligament - physiopathology; Postoperative Complications; Prosthesis Design; Range of Motion, Articular - physiology; scoring; Sports; Surface Properties; Surgery; Tibia - surgery
• ISSN: 0942-2056; 1433-7347
• DOI: 10.1007/s00167-007-0333-9

Goal of this study is to determine the anterior-posterior laxity in 30 degrees of knee flexion for a posterior cruciate retaining total knee arthroplasty with a relative dished insert and implanted with a ligament tensor. Furthermore, the correlation between these AP laxities and the postoperative range of motion (ROM) and postoperative Knee Society Score (KSS) is analysed. Fifty-one balanSys total knee arthroplasties were performed in 49 patients between 1998 and 2000. These arthroplasties are analysed with respect to AP laxity (Rolimeter), ROM and KSS with a mean follow-up of 4.6 years. The mean anterior laxity is 2.8 mm with no posterior laxities at all. The average postoperative ROM is 110 degrees with an average KSS of 142. No correlations between AP-laxity and postoperative ROM or between AP-laxity and postoperative KSS are found. A posterior cruciate retaining TKA with a relative dished insert and implanted with a tensor is very stable in the anterior-posterior direction in 30 degrees of knee flexion. This limited laxity does not seem to disadvantage the mean postoperative ROM and KSS, when compared to other TKA studies.