Anatomical Reference of the Femur after Distal Resection Is Reliable for Rotational Alignment in Total Knee Arthroplasty

TL;DR

This study identifies a reliable anatomical reference for femoral rotational alignment during knee replacement surgery.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel intraoperative anatomical reference (dFAP) for predicting femoral rotation in TKA.

Findings

The difference between FLAP and FMAP (dFAP) is associated with femoral rotational alignment.

A dFAP of 6 mm corresponds to approximately 5° of femoral rotation.

The prediction equation using dFAP shows moderate agreement with rotational alignment.

Abstract

The rotational alignment of the femoral component in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is considered an important factor, but it is still difficult to assess intraoperatively. This study was conducted to identify anatomical parameters for femoral rotational alignment. A total of 204 patients who underwent primary TKA between 2015 and 2019 were enrolled. The femoral lateral (FLAP) and femoral medial anteroposterior (FMAP) lengths were measured as the widest lengths in the anteroposterior (AP) axis after distal femoral resection. The difference between FLAP and FMAP was defined as dFAP. The concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) was assessed for agreement between the cTEA-PCA and the value of femoral rotation using the linear regression analysis equation. HKA, FLAP, FMAP, and dFAP were significantly associated with femoral rotational alignment. The prediction equation combining the novel intraoperative anatomical references showed improved association with rotational alignment. If dFAP was 6.0 mm, the femoral rotation angle was calculated as 4.9° using this univariate regression equation. The CCC was 0.483, indicating moderate agreement. The dFAP showed an association with distal femoral rotational alignment. A 6 mm dFAP could be a reference for around 5° of femoral rotation. The equation developed in this study may be a reliable tool for intraoperative distal femoral rotational alignment.

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