Biomechanical effect with respect to the sagittal positioning of the femoral component in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty

BACKGROUND: Component malalignment in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has been related to the concentration in tibiofemoral joint of contact stress and to poor post-operative outcomes. Few studies investigated a biomechanical effect of femur component position in sagittal plane. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical effect of the femoral components on the sagittal alignment under flexion and extension conditions using computational simulations. METHODS: The flexion and extension conditions of the femoral component were analyzed from 10 degrees extension to 10 degrees flexion in 1 degrees increments. We considered the contact stresses in the polyethylene (PE) inserts and articular cartilage, and the force on the collateral ligament, under gait cycle conditions. RESULTS: The contact stress on the PE insert increased as flexion of the femoral component increased, but there was not a remarkable difference in the amount of increased contact stress upon extension. There was no difference in the contact stress on the articular cartilage upon extension of the femoral component, but it increased in flexion during stance and double support periods. The forces on the medial collateral ligaments increased with the extension and decreased with the flexion of the femoral component, whereas the forces on the lateral collateral ligaments showed opposite trends. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons should be concerned with femoral component position on UKA not only in frontal plane but also in the sagittal plane, because flexion or extension of the femoral component may impact the PE or opposite compartment along with the surrounding ligaments around knee joint.