Gait affects tibial component fixation.

Abstract

The prognosis of fixation in patients with total knee arthroplasty was classified as either good or poor based on migration results over 4 to 8 years using roentgen stereophotogrammetry. Gait analysis with the Vicon system was performed in 27 asymptomatic patients (1 bilateral), selected according to gender, implant design, age, and fixation principle to form two equivalent groups with different prognoses. The poor prognosis group walked with a predominantly flexing moment and higher moment peaks in the sagittal plane compared with the good prognosis group, in which moments were abnormally small. We conclude that individual gait patterns and subsequent differences in joint loading affect tibial component fixation.