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Lateral facetectomy decreased patellofemoral contact pressure in total knee replacement: A cadaveric study
Varah Yuenyongviwat1, Khanin Iamthanaporn1, Theerawit Hongnaparak1
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Physical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand.
Background:
To study the patellofemoral contact pressure in patellar non-resurfacing total knee replacement after lateral facetectomy in different amounts of bone removal.
Methods:
Eight knees from four fresh-frozen whole body cadavers were used for this study. Total knee replacement of all knees was performed by the same surgical technique. The contact pressure was measured and recorded when the knee performed passive motion from full extension to full flexion in native patella, lateral retinacular junction release, 10% lateral facetectomy, and 20% lateral facetectomy.
Results:
Peak patellofemoral contact pressure decreased progressively from native patellar, junctional release of the patella, 10% facetectomy, and 20% facetectomy. The peak patellofemoral contact pressures were statistically significantly different in each patellar condition (p = 0.025).
Conclusion:
In the experimental study, lateral facetectomy can reduce the peak patellofemoral contact pressure in patellar non-resurfacing total knee arthroplasty.
