Influence of Intraoperative Soft Tissue Balance on Postoperative Active Knee Extension in Posterior-Stabilized Total Knee Arthroplasty

We evaluated the influence of intraoperative soft tissue balance on postoperative active knee extension using Offset Repo-Tensor® among 73 varus osteoarthritic knees underwent primary posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasty. The joint center gap between osteotomized surfaces and the component gap after femoral trial component placement were measured using a joint distraction force of 40 lb. The active knee extension angle was measured 4 weeks after surgery. The postoperative extension angle was not correlated with the joint center gap at 0°, but positively correlated with the component gap at 0°, and the joint looseness at 0° which was calculated by subtracting insert thickness from the component gap. Thus, intraoperative soft tissue measurement with femoral trial component placement would be useful to predict the postoperative knee extension angle.