Level II, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Background Rotating-hinge total knee prostheses may be used for the treatment of global instability about the knee. The designs of previous generations were associated with suboptimal outcomes. Questions/purposes We evaluated the clinical and radiographic outcomes of salvage knee reconstructions using modern-generation, modular, kinematic rotating-hinge total knee prostheses. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 26 rotating-hinge arthroplasty devices to examine whether acceptable results were obtainable using a single arthroplasty design. The average age of the patients was 77 years (SD, 9 years); the minimum followup was 24 months (mean, 46 months; range, 24-107 months). The indication was revision surgery in 21 patients and complex primary surgery in five.

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Summary Background One of the possible causes of dissatisfaction reported by many patients after total knee replacement (TKR) is the lack of agreement between component size and bone structure. To avoid this complication and facilitate the procedure, preoperative planning with digitized templates is recommended. Surgical navigation indicates the best position and the most adequate size of arthroplasty and may therefore replace preoperative radiographic measurement. The objective of the study was to check agreement between the sizes of TKR components measured before surgery with digitized templates, the size recommended by the navigation and sizes actually implanted. Methods In 103 patients scheduled for TKR, preoperative full-limb radiography was performed to measure the mechanical and anatomical axes of the limb, femur and tibia. The most adequate size of the femoral and tibial components was planned by superimposing digitized templates. The size recommended in navigation and the size of the finally implanted components were also recorded. Results A high level of agreement was found between the sizes of femoral and tibial components measured by X-rays and in navigation (0.750 and 0.772, respectively) (intraclass correlation and Cronbach's alpha). Agreement between the sizes recommended by X-rays and navigation and those finally implanted was 0.886 for the femur and 0.891 for the tibia. Agreement levels were not different in cases with prior deformities of limb axis. Conclusions The high level of agreement found in component sizes between radiographic measurement with digitized templates and navigation suggests that preoperative X-ray measurement is not needed when navigation is used for placement of implants during TKR. The translational potential of this article Computer-assisted surgery may avoid preoperative measurement with templates in TKR.

TKR surgery modifies preoperative tibial torsion. Neither mechanical instrumentation nor navigation surgery precisely reproduces the rotational axis of the leg.