The Signature system has been hailed as a new way to perform arthroplasty of the knee. It combines the accuracy in restoring mechanical axes of navigation with the convenience and familiarity of classical surgical techniques. With this comes the expectation that they should produce better functional results. In the literature, thus far, there is little data to corroborate this. The aim of this paper is to compare the early functional outcomes of this with the cemented AGC knee replacement system. Since April 2010, based on requirement, 25 patients underwent Signature knee replacements during this period for symptomatic degenerative or inflammatory arthritis with varying levels of deformity. Oxford functional scores were taken pre-operatively, at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. These were then matched to an equal number of patients that had undergone an AGC knee replacement by the same surgeon. They were matched by pre-operative functional Oxford scores, age and gender.Introduction
Methods
As intra-operative fluoroscopic identification of the isometric MPFL attachment to the femur can be imprecise and laborious in a surgical setting, we used clinical criteria to identify the isometric point and then studied post-operative radiographs to find out whether it was achieved and compared it with functional outcome. Sixteen patients underwent 17 MPFL reconstructions using autologous semi-tendinosis tendon graft. Clinical judgement was used to identify the optimal point for femoral attachment of the MPFL without fluoroscopy control. Post-operative radiographs at 2 weeks were analysed to confirm whether an isometric point for the reconstructed MPFL was achieved by dividing the distal femur into 4 quadrants by 2 lines on the lateral radiograph. Telephonic interview was conducted to assess functional scores using the Kujala score at a mean follow-up of 13 months.Introduction
Materials and Methods
