Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA
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Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc · Dec 2014
Extension gap needs more than 1-mm laxity after implantation to avoid post-operative flexion contracture in total knee arthroplasty.
In total knee arthroplasty (TKA), a high soft-tissue tension in extension at the time of operation would cause a post-operative flexion contracture. However, how tight the extension gap should be during surgery to avoid a post-operative flexion contracture remains unclear. The hypothesis is that some laxity in the intraoperative extension gap is necessary to avoid the post-operative flexion contracture. ⋯ Prospective comparative study, Level II.