J Korean Knee Soc.  1999 Jun;11(1):26-31.

Radiologic Evaluation of Improved Residual Flexion Contracture after TKRA in Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Chung HK
• Choi YJ
• Choi CH
• Kim JH
• Roh KW

Abstract

We reviewed radiographs of 11 patients with 17 total knee replacement arthroplasty(TKRA) cases. These patients had a residual flexion contracture over 20 degree after TKRA that corrected spontaneously during follow-up. The mean age of patients was 46.5 years(range, from twenty nine to sixty six). Seven patients were bilateral cases and all knees were cases of rheumatoid arthritis. The mean preoperative flex- ion contracture was 53.8 and immediately postoperative contracture was 23.5. The remaining flexion contracture after TKRA was completely corrected during follow-up period in all cases. We measured the distance from upper margin of tibial components to a certain point on the fibula. This point is on a line perpendicular to long axis of the tibia, drawn from a certain point on the fibula. This dis- tance was measured on postoperative radiographs and radiographs with improved flexion contracture, and the differences calculated. There was no significant difference between the two distances. Although the number of cases are small, we conclude that flexion contracture might be corrected to the extent of 20-30 degree by soft tissue stretching rather than bone subsidence.

MeSH Terms

Arthritis, Rheumatoid*
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee
Axis, Cervical Vertebra
Contracture*
Fibula
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Knee
Tibia