Less femoral lift-off and better femoral alignment in TKA using computer-assisted surgery

Abstract

A comparison has been made between navigation-assisted and conventional measured resection total knee arthroplasty (TKA), under the hypothesis that navigation assistance would improve the precision and consistency of component alignment and femoral component rotation. The following radiographic parameters were measured: mechanical femorotibial angle, coronal and sagittal component angle, and femoral component rotation. Femoral condylar lift-off was checked by axial radiographs, and thresholds for outliers were set at 1.0 mm. Clinical results obtained using Knee Society and Hospital for Special Surgery systems were not statistically different. The mean mechanical femorotibial angle was 2.2° (SD: 0.9) in the conventional group and 1.7° (SD: 0.7) in navigation group (p = 0.001). The mean coronal femoral component angle was 89.2° (SD: 2.2) in conventional group and 90.4° (SD: 1.8) in navigation group (p = 0.006). The mean transepicondylar-posterior condylar axis angle was 1.7° (SD: 0.9) in conventional group and 1.2° (SD: 0.5) in navigation group (p = 0.008). Femoral condylar lift-off greater than 1 mm occurred more frequently (p = 0.000) in conventional group. Coronal plane stability and precision of femoral component rotation were impacted by navigation system. The use of a navigation system with measured resection TKA can help optimize coronal stability and parallel component position. Retrospective case control study, Level IV.