Deep-dished highly congruent tibial insert in CR-TKA does not prevent patellar tendon angle increase and patellar anterior translation

Purpose: Starting from the hypothesis that a deep-dished highly congruent tibial insert in cruciate-retaining total knee arthroplasty would prevent the increase in patellar tendon angle and anterior patellar translation by reducing the paradoxical anterior femoral translation, the main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of this prosthesis design, and secondary to assess the clinical outcomes at 6-month follow-up. Methods: Twenty patients treated with cruciate-retaining total knee arthroplasty with navigation technique were enrolled and prospectively followed up at 6 months. The median value of age was 71 years (57–83). Before and after surgery, the following parameters were calculated: patellar tendon angle, anterior–posterior and medio-lateral patellar translation, patellar height and range of motion. All patients were assessed with the SF-36 Physical Functioning and the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score ADL scores. Results: Patellar tendon angle and anterior patellar translation significantly increased in post-operative conditions (p