Published in:
26-09-2023 | KNEE
Cruciate-substituting and posterior-stabilised total knee arthroplasties had similar gait patterns in the short term
Published in: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy | Issue 12/2023
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Purpose
Surgeons want to achieve native kinematics in primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Cruciate-substituting (CS) implants could restore the knee kinematics more efficiently than posterior-stabilised (PS) TKA. This study aimed to compare gait patterns in patients with CS or PS TKA at 6 months. The hypothesis was that CS implants would demonstrate comparable gait parameters to PS implants at 6 months.
Methods
In this prospective case–control study, 38 primary TKA without coronal laxity were divided into 2 groups: 19 cruciate-substituting (CS) and 19 posterior-stabilised (PS) implants. The type of prosthesis was determined according to the surgical period. Exclusion criteria were TKA revision, associated procedures and inability to walk on a treadmill. Gait analysis was conducted on a treadmill 6 months postoperatively for each patient with a knee assessment device (KneeKG®). Gait characteristics included analysis in three spatial dimensions (flexion–extension, abduction–adduction, internal–external rotation, anterior–posterior translation). Clinical outcomes (Knee Society Score and Forgotten Joint Score) were compared between both groups at 6 months postoperatively.
Results
At 6 months, the gait analysis did not demonstrate any significant difference between CS and PS implants. The range and the maximum anteroposterior translation were similar in both groups (9.2 ± 6.5 mm in CS group vs. 8.1 ± 3 mm in PS group (n.s.); and − 5.2 ± 5 mm in CS group vs. − 6.3 ± 5.9 mm in PS group (n.s.), respectively). The internal/external rotation, the flexion, and the varus angle were similar between CS and PS implants. The KSS Knee score was higher at 6 months in the CS group than in the PS group (92.1 ± 5.6 vs. 84.8 ± 8.9 (p < 0.01)).
Conclusion
Cruciate-substituting and posterior-stabilised TKA had similar gait patterns at 6 months postoperatively, despite a non-equivalent posterior stabilisation system. CS prostheses were an interesting option for primary TKA for knee kinematics restoration without requiring a femoral box.
Level of evidence
Prospective, case–control study; Level II.