title: [Treatment of valgus deformity by total knee arthroplasty with modified Ranawat soft tissue balance technique].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of modified Ranawat soft tissue balance technique on total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2004 to June 2008, 34 cases (44 knees) of valgus deformity were treated with TKA. There were 5 males (5 knees) and 29 females (39 knees), aged 55-79 years old (average 60.3 years old) and including 18 left knees and 26 right knees. The deformity was caused by osteoarthritis in 9 cases, by rheumatoid arthritis in 19 cases, and by traumatic arthritis in 6 cases. According to Ranawat classification, there were 5 cases (5 knees) of type I and 29 cases (39 knees) of type II. All patients were performed modified Ranawat soft tissue balance technology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The operative time was (65 +/- 7) minutes. Burst fracture of femoral condyle occurred and internal fixation was selected in 1 case of rheumatoid arthritis. Small incision necrosis occurred and healed after debridement in 1 case of rheumatoid arthritis. Incision healed by first intention in other cases. Adhesions occurred in 1 case (1 knee) and hydrarthrosis in 4 cases (4 knees), all cured after symptomatic treatment. All patients were followed up 6 months to 5 years with an average of 2.6 years. All patients had no complications of deep vein thrombosis, dislocation, vascular injury and nerve injury. X-ray films showed no signs of prosthesis loosening and infection at 1 year after operation. The X-ray films showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in anatomic valgus angulation between preoperation and 1 week after operation [(25.4 +/- 3.1) degrees vs (3.8 +/- 1.2) degrees]. There were statistically significant differences in modified KSS score between preoperation and 1, 2 years postoperatively (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is a simple and effective way to treat the valgus deformity with modified Ranawat soft tissue balance technique in TKA, which can achieve the satisfactory results in the knee stability, the range of motion and the deformity correction.
authors.affiliation: Department of orthopaedics, People's Hospital of Tianjin, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhenhui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Mengqiang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Zhengwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jiangang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Yunbo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Pei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000601:surgery; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000002:abnormalities*; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000601:surgery