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Adult Reconstruction
intermediate
X-Type

Knee Arthroplasty Alignment Philosophies

Total Knee Arthroplasty

A 68-year-old woman with severe tricompartmental osteoarthritis undergoes total knee arthroplasty. The surgeon discusses various alignment philosophies with the registrar, explaining the rationale for mechanical axis alignment versus kinematic alignment. The patient has a preoperative varus deformity of 8 degrees with a hypoplastic lateral femoral condyle. Long leg radiographs show a hip-knee-ankle angle of 172 degrees. Regarding alignment in total knee arthroplasty:

Mark each as TRUE or FALSE

A

Mechanical axis alignment targets restoration of neutral mechanical axis (hip-knee-ankle angle 180 d...

B

Kinematic alignment aims to restore the patient's pre-arthritic constitutional alignment and joint l...

C

Mechanical alignment targets 10 degrees of varus; kinematic alignment always results in neutral mech...

D

Gap balancing technique creates equal rectangular flexion and extension gaps by adjusting bone cuts ...

E

Femoral component rotation is set by transepicondylar axis (most reliable), anteroposterior axis (Wh...

Answer the questions to see explanations

Click T (True) or F (False) for each option