The Correlation between Posterior Tibial Slope and Maximal Angle of Flexion after Total Knee Arthroplasty

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between the posterior tibial slope and the maximal angle of flexion after total knee arthroplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy nine cases (63 patients, 60 females and 3 males), which received total knee arthroplasty with the Nexgen LPS system from Jan 2001 to Jan 2004, were enrolled. We divided all cases into two subsets in two ways. Firstly, group A (up to 10°, 44 cases) and group B (over 10°, 35 cases) were divided according to the mean value of the postoperative posterior tibial slope. Secondly, group α (up to -4°, 39 cases) and group β (over -4°, 40 cases) were divided according to the mean difference between the preoperative posterior tibial slope and the postoperative posterior tibial slope. We compared the maximal angle of flexion between group A and group B, group α and group β, respectively. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between group A and group B, and also between group α and group β in terms of maximal angle of flexion. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant correlation between the postoperative posterior tibial solpe and the maximal angle of flexion.