The influence of posterior tibial slope on the mid-term clinical effect of medial-pivot knee prosthesis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of posterior tibial slope (PTS) on the mid-term clinical outcome following a medial-pivot (MP) prosthesis. METHOD: Two hundred thirty-three patients from The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, who had undergone a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with MP prosthesis between January 2015 and December 2015, were retrospectively included in this study. They were divided into 3 groups according to postoperative PTS: A ≤ 5°; B 5-7°; and C ≥ 7°. Multiple assessments were made on the patient postoperatively and recorded in the three groups, the measurements of this study included: the range of motion (ROM), knee scoring system (KSS), Western Ontario and McMaster universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC), posterior condylar offset (PCO), joint line height, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: The average post-operative ROM for groups B and C were 108° and 110° respectively; this was significantly higher than that of group A (98°, P < 0.001). The WOMAC scores of patients in group C were significantly lower than those in groups A and B (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in KSS, PCO, and joint line height among the 3 groups (P > 0.05). Only 2 cases of postoperative complications occurred in group C, these were ameliorated after operation. CONCLUSION: With an increase to PTS, the postoperative ROM can be significantly increased for the patient. However, the knee joint function will not be significantly improved, and the stability of knee joint will not be affected when within the limits of appropriate PTS. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13018-021-02704-y.