Introduction: The Posterior Cruciate Referencing Technique (PCRT) for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) uses innovative instrumentation and tibial inserts with varying posterior slopes, and is designed to maximize motion and stability in cruciate-retaining knees, while preserving bone and ligament integrity. This study evaluated early clinical results for this technique.

Methods: An IRB-approved, retrospective, single-site, single-surgeon study was conducted in 2009. 50 patients were put into two groups: Group 1 included patients undergoing CR TKA using standard technique and implants and Group 2 included patients undergoing CR TKA using PCRT. Demographics, surgical time, length of stay (LOS), range of motion, and Oxford Knee Scores (OKS) were collected.

Results: Data sets were complete on 41 patients. Follow-up averaged 14 months for Group 1 and nine months for group 2. Both groups had a mean age of 66.4, were 51% female, and had an average BMI of 30.6. LOS was 1.25 days for Group 1 and 1 day for Group2 (p=0.011). Surgical time was 48 minutes for Group 1 and 46 minutes for Group 2 (p=0.184). Average flexion was 118° for Group 1 and 123° for Group 2 (p=0.073). OK S were 92–94% good and excellent with a mean of 20.4 for both groups.

Conclusions: The learning curve for PCRT and the associated instrumentation and implants did not adversely affect clinical results. Instead, the data indicated a small savings in surgical time and a moderate, but not statistically significant, increase in flexion. LOS, however, was significantly shortened. PCRT may allow for better PCL function while preserving bone and reducing surgical manipulation, and with tibial inserts of varying posterior slopes may improve flexion, stability, and function in CR TKA. Further study is warranted.

We introduce a new technique called the “Posterior Cruciate Referencing Technique” (PCRT), a specific combination of surgical technique, devices and instrumentation. Careful anatomic preservation of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) based upon a specific reference point off the tibia allows for use of sloped tibial components to achieve consistent functional behavior of the PCL. We discuss the preclinical design and development leading to availability of this device, and subsequent early clinical experience with this approach.

Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) retention in total knee arthroplasty (CR-TKA) has been a feature of certain styles of TKA since the inception of predictable TKA in the early 1970s. It has been adapted and promoted as advantageous for a number of real and theoretical benefits. In reality, however, PCL retention has proven inconsistent when applied across a broad range of surgical environments. A number of adaptations in surgical technique, device modification and instrumentation have been developed to try to improve the predictability of the surgical intervention and subsequent postoperative performance. It is our belief that currently recommended surgical techniques can lead to inconsistencies in surgical judgment and consequently performance of CR devices because they inadvertently compromise the anatomy and hence functional performance of the PCL. A study by Shannon et al showed that, during CR-TKA, the PCL was either partially or completely removed as a result of the tibial cut in two out of three cases [1]. Unlike the long held and validated approach of ligament releases for fixed New Technique for Functional Posterior Cruciate Retention in TKA varus and valgus deformity that, along with alignment, allow successful long 45 term outcomes, ligament release of the PCL to balance the knee in flexion, whether by bone cuts or physical release, may compromise its overall function and explain kinematic differences in expected versus observed performance. Our hypothesis is that devices, surgical techniques and instruments designed around anatomical and functional preservation of the PCL would promote a reproducible surgical approach and consistent clinical performance of a CR-TKA. This manuscript provides the rationale for development of a new technique called the “Posterior Cruciate Referencing Technique” (PCRT), a combination of technique, instruments and devices specifically designed to preserve the PCL anatomy and take advantage of the functional performance of the PCL. We discuss the anatomical, radiographic, kinematic and mechanical testing approach that suggests that this is a safe and effective approach for primary CR-TKA.

Conclusion: This manuscript presents a body of work that elucidates specific issues of implant design and technical implantation that may have led to inadvertent compromise of function of the PCL during CR-TKA. We believe that such compromises may explain the inconsistent kinematic behavior of these devices in the hands of surgeons who use them, and may result in clinical outcomes that were unintended. We have provided the rationale for a new technique of implantation the Posterior-Cruciate Referencing Technique (PCRT) -which mates specific referencing approaches of the PCL and tibial resection, with implants, to address PCL functional New Technique for Functional Posterior Cruciate Retention in TKA behavior. We have provided laboratory, pre-clinical and early clinical evaluations that suggest that this will prove a safe and effective approach to CR-TKA.