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Intraoperative Soft-Tissue Balance and Clinical Results (ROM, Function)

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Book cover Soft Tissue Balancing in Total Knee Arthroplasty

Abstract

A good outcome in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) depends on many factors: joint alignment, range of motion (ROM), patella tracking, and ligament stability [1]. If correct soft-tissue balancing is not achieved after TKA, the patient may initially suffer instability of joint, pain, and swelling after surgery and experience gait disturbance due to giving way, and as it increases risk of wear and aseptic loosening in long-term follow-up, it is considered the most important process. However, achieving accurate soft-tissue balancing is not an easy goal in TKA. Generally, well intraoperative balance affects good postoperative gap balance. Some studies report that the more intraoperative flexion laxity, the better postoperative ROM [2]. But the best method for obtaining appropriate soft-tissue balance and better ROM remains controversial, with dispute focusing on the cutoff value of flexion laxity [3, 4].

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Correspondence to Eun-Kyoo Song MD .

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Song, EK., Seon, JK., Shin, YJ., Lim, HA. (2017). Intraoperative Soft-Tissue Balance and Clinical Results (ROM, Function). In: Matsuda, S., Lustig, S., van der Merwe, W. (eds) Soft Tissue Balancing in Total Knee Arthroplasty. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-54082-4_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-54082-4_16

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