Surgical principles for complex primary total knee arthroplasty in the presence of extra-articular deformity

Accurate restoration of alignment is vital to the success of a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedure. Deformities, whether these are intra-articular and/or extra-articular AND/OR whether these are uniplanar/multiplanar/complex, can impose varying technical challenges in surgical planning and execution. Literature on performing TKA in presence of limb deformity is limited, especially for extra-articular deformities.

The objectives of this narrative review are twofold. Firstly, we analyse the existing English literature for studies focussed on TKA and deformity correction and summarise the important points about deformity pathomechanics, clinical and radiological assessment, pre-operative planning and surgical techniques. The second objective is to provide the readers with a simplistic and wholistic management algorithm to assist surgeons in meticulous planning to tackle the technical challenges imposed by lower limb deformities while performing a TKA.

Approach to each patient must be holistic and customised on an individual basis according to patient characteristics, deformity characteristics and surgeon experience. The three main options available are: (1) Primary TKA (symmetric cuts/asymmetric cuts with/without computer navigation assistance) (2) Single stage corrective osteotomy and TKA and (3) Two-staged deformity correction and TKA. A multi-disciplinary team approach is required and a knee surgeon well-versed in revision arthroplasty and a limb reconstruction surgeon specialising in deformity correction, should be involved from the outset. The use of computer navigation technology, particularly for deformity correction and TKA, has increased over the last couple of decades and is recommended by the authors for these challenging cases.