EVOLUTION OF TROCHLEAR COMPARTMENT GEOMETRY IN TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY

The study aimed to compare trochlear profiles in recent total knee arthroplasty (TKA) models and to determine whether they feature improvements compared to their predecessors. The hypothesis was that recent TKA models have more anatomic trochlear compartments and would display no signs of trochlear dysplasia.The authors analyzed the geometry of the 6 following TKA models using engineering software: PFC and Attune (DePuy), NexGen and Persona (Zimmer), Noetos and KneeTec (Tornier). The mediolateral trochlear profiles were plotted at various flexion angles (0°, 15°, 30° and 45°) to deduce the sulcus angle.Analysis of sulcus angles reveals general convergence of recent designs towards anatomic values. At 0° of flexion, sulcus angles of recent implant models were between 156.0–157.4°, while those of previous generation models between 154.5–165.5°. At 30° of flexion, sulcus angles of recent models also lie within 145.7–148.6°, but those of previous models are between 149.5–152.0°. All three manufacturers deepen...