TKA Using Patient-Specific Instrumentation

The purpose of our study is to determine if anatomic/kinematic total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) are superior to mechanical axis-referenced TKAs with respect to determinants of gait functionality, patient satisfaction and other objective tests of knee function as a potential indicator of long-term prosthesis outcomes. To our knowledge there has not been any literature comparing TKAs using the kinematic and mechanical axes with respect to gait analysis. A single study has compared gender-specific TKAs and found that there is no difference with respect to determinants of gait when using these prostheses (Thomsen et al, 2012), but again this study was not based on referencing off of the anatomical/kinematic axis of the knee. Our group is hoping that the small variability that may be detectable with the precision of gait analysis may be used as a predictor of future prosthesis outcome measures.