How to obtain better results, choice of implant or surgical technique? A new surgical technique with an extramedullary referenced cutting guide and a blended alignment method

Abstract

Measured resection and ligament balancing techniques are the most used in TKA; both require, in the majority of knee arthroplasty systems, a femoral intramedullary canal referencing for the distal femoral cut. Fat embolism, activation of coagulation and bleeding may occur from the reamed canal; this can be avoided with different solutions such as navigation, patient specific instruments or the use of an extramedullary device. The FuZionTM tensor was created as a blended method with the purpose to overcome the downsides of both techniques by fusing them. The aim of our study is to present the technique and the preliminary results of a cohort of patients where this instrument was customized and used as an extramedullary cutting guide for the distal femur, matching the distal femoral cut with the proximal tibial cut in order to obtain a guided, kinematically adjusted, alignment and a reduction of post-op blood loss.