A 76-year-old woman presented with bilateral knee pain, left worse than right. Pre-operative radiographs of the left knee show severe, end-stage osteoarthritis. The radiographic hallmarks of osteoarthritis are: joint space narrowing, sclerosis of the subchondral bone, osteophyte formation and eventually cystic changes in the adjacent bone.
Standing "alignment views" are used to determine the patient's weight bearing and mechanical axis. The technical goals of Total Knee Arthroplasty include re-establishing the patients mechanical axis and restoring the joint line. Often times, patients will have developed severe "varus" deformity (bowed legs) or less commonly, "valgus deformity (knock kneed).
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After a sterile prep, the limb is draped, landmarks are identified and the mid-line knee incision is planned unless patients have old scars which are not compatible with this standard incision.
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