Abstract
Alignment of the patellar component following total knee arthroplasty was evaluated in 90 knees. The Omnifit total knee was used for 30 knees under the following criteria: keep the joint lines (femoro-tibial and patello-femoral) unchanged, cut the patella symmetrically, place the patellar component medially, check the rotational alignment of the femoral and tibial components, and add lateral release (a new method) . We selected, for comparison, sixty knees using the Ortholoc II that had been operated on with conventional methods previously, i.e., with lateral release but without careful consideration of the other techniques mentioned above. Six to 18 months after surgery the tilting angle and the lateral shift of the patellar component in the group treated with the new method were an average of 2.0±1.6 degrees and 1.2±1.2mm, and significantly smaller than in those treated with the conventional method (average of 4.5±2.2 degrees and 3.2±2.1mm, respectively) . With the new method, 80% of the knees had good alignment and none poor alignment, while with the conventional method, 44% good and 30% poor alignment was noted.
