Correlation of joint stabilities in total knee replacement
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Correlation between intraoperative and postoperative joint stability in navigated total knee arthroplasty
IRAS ID
114220
Contact name
Edward T Davis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Brainlab AG
Research summary
A total knee replacement is a common procedure performed for arthritis of the knee when other treatments have failed. However, the results of the replacement are particularly unpredictable. Studies have shown that one in 10 patients feels overall dissatisfied with the result knee replacement and gets continued pain and discomfort. Unlike hip replacement patients rarely get the feeling of a normal joint following knee replacement. This probably occurs as due to the fact that the knee is a much more complicated joint than the hip and that it is challenging to accurately reproduce the biomechanics of the knee in the replacement knee. Computer assisted knee replacement has been shown to improve the result of knee replacement. There is hope that with newer technology it may be able to improve the results of knee replacement even further.
The use of computer navigation in total knee replacement (TKA) is well established (1-7). There are two philosophies by which surgeons would place the implants during TKA. Either to reproduce the mechanical axis of the leg through measured resection or to also take into account the ligaments and perform a gap-balanced workflow. For the latter computer navigation may help in future evaluating the final knee joint stability.
In this study information from the navigation system that is routinely used for knee replacement by the principal investigator in taken and analyzed. The surgery will be performed in the normal way with the exception that at certain points in the procedure extra readings will be taken and stored on the computer for analysis after the procedure. From this information it is analyzed, if intraoperative data regarding the knee joint stability acquired with computer navigation can be used to rate the stability of the joint after the implantation.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/WM/0113
Date of REC Opinion
31 May 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion