[Application of femoral condyle sliding osteotomy in initial total knee arthroplasty].

Objective: To investigate the effect of femoral condyle sliding osteotomy (FCSO) on the flexion gap and external rotation of the prosthesis in balancing coronal instability during initial total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods: Between November 2021 and October 2024, FCSO technique was applied to balance the coronal medial and lateral spaces during initial TKA in 3 patients, including medial condyle sliding osteotomy (MCSO) and lateral condyle sliding osteotomy (LCSO). There were 1 male and 2 females with the age of 81, 68, and 68 years old. The affected knee has varus or valgus deformity, with tibia-femoral angles of 169.7°, 203.3°, and 162.2°, respectively. The hip-knee-ankle angle (HKA), range of motion (ROM), knee society scoring system (KSS), and pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score were used to evaluate joint function and pain relief. Based on model bone, the thickness and bone bed area of the medial and lateral femoral condyle osteotomy blocks in FCSO were measured. During TKA in 12 patients, the range of osteotomy block movement was evaluated. By simplifying the upward and forward movement of the osteotomy block into a geometric model, the impact of movement on the flexion gap and external rotation of the prosthesis was calculated.

Results: After application of FCSO during TKA, the limb alignment and medial and lateral balance at extension and flexion positions were restored in 3 patients. Three patients were followed up 23, 11, and 3 months, respectively. Postoperative HKA, pain VAS score, KSS score, and ROM all showed significant improvement compared to preoperative levels. The maximum thickness of osteotomy blocks by MCSO and LCSO was 17 and 12 mm, respectively. The simple upward movement of the osteotomy block mainly affected the extension gap, and had little effect on the flexion gap and external rotation of the prosthesis. Moving the osteotomy block forward at the same time had a significant impact on the flexion gap and external rotation of the prosthesis, especially on LCSO. Mild forward movement leaded to a decrease in external rotation of more than 3°, which had a serious impact on the patellar trajectory.

Conclusion: FCSO can effectively solve the problem of imbalance between the medial and lateral spaces during initial TKA, avoiding knee joint instability caused by excessive loosening and limiting the use of constrained condylar prosthesis. The distance for the downward movement of the osteotomy block in MCSO and LCSO was 3-5 mm and 6-8 mm, respectively, with 10-15 mm of space for forward movement and almost no space for backward movement. For MCSO, the upward and forward movement of the osteotomy block will increase the external rotation of the prosthesis, which is beneficial for improving the patellar trajectory and suitable for valgus knee. LCSO is suitable for varus knee, and the osteotomy block only slides vertically up and down without moving forward and backward.