title: Caution required when using an intraoperative knee balancer in total knee arthroplasty.
abstract: Various knee balancers have been developed to assist surgeons in balancing the flexion and extension spaces during total knee arthroplasty. Devices typically are designed to measure the distance between spaces during total knee arthroplasty at a given force level. We analyzed the accuracy of one type of these devices. We found that the devices accurately measure distances, but are quite inaccurate at demonstrating reproducible forces.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Kesman
authors.forename: Paul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: Kenton R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Kaufman
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Trousdale
mesh_terms: D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000601:surgery; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular