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A cruciate-retaining implant can treat both knees of most windswept deformities when performed with calipered kinematically aligned TKA

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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

Surgeons performing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) on the osteoarthritic valgus deformity often use a posterior stabilized (PS) and semi-constrained implants to substitute for the release of a contracted posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) instead of a cruciate retaining (CR) implant. Calipered kinematic alignment (KA) strives to retain the PCL and use a CR implant. The aim of this study of the windswept deformity was to determine whether the level of implant constraint, outcome scores, and alignment after bilateral calipered KA TKA are different between a pair of knees with a varus and valgus deformity in the same patient.

Methods

A review of a prospectively collected database identified all patients with a windswept deformity treated with bilateral TKA (n = 19) out of 2430 consecutive primary TKAs performed between 2014 and 2019. Operative reports determined the level of implant constraint. Patient response to the Forgotten Joint Score (FJS) and Oxford Knee Score (OKS) assessed outcomes at a mean follow-up of 2.3 years. Postoperative alignment was measured on an A-P computer tomographic scanogram of the limb.

Results

CR implants were used in 15 of 19 (79%) valgus deformities and 17 of 19 (89%) of varus deformities (n.s.). No knees required a semi-constrained implant. There was no difference in the median postoperative FJS and OKS (n.s.), and a 1° or less difference in the mean postoperative distal lateral femoral angle (p = 0.005) and proximal medial tibial angle (n.s.) between the paired varus and valgus knee deformity.

Conclusion

Based on this small series, surgeons that use calipered KA TKA can expect to use CR implants in most patients with windswept deformity and achieve comparable outcome scores and alignment between the paired varus and valgus deformity.

Level of evidence

IV

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Funding

The authors report that there was no funding for this research project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, 451 E. Health Sciences Drive, Room 2303, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Stephen M. Howell & Maury L. Hull

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, Davis, 4860 Y Street, Suite 3800, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Trevor J. Shelton & Maury L. Hull

  3. Adventist Health Lodi Memorial Hospital, 975 S. Fairmont Ave., Lodi, CA, 95240, USA

    Manpreet Gill

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Davis, 451 E. Health Sciences Drive, Room 2303, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Maury L. Hull

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  1. Stephen M. Howell
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  2. Trevor J. Shelton
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Correspondence to Trevor J. Shelton.

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Howell, S.M., Shelton, T.J., Gill, M. et al. A cruciate-retaining implant can treat both knees of most windswept deformities when performed with calipered kinematically aligned TKA. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 29, 437–445 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-020-05968-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-020-05968-9

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