The effect of tibial posterior slope on contact force and ligaments stresses in posterior-stabilized total knee arthroplasty-explicit finite element analysis.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of change in tibial posterior slope on contact force and ligament stress using finite element analysis.


METHODS
A 3-dimensional finite element model for total knee arthroplasty was developed by using a computed tomography scan. For validation, the tibial translations were compared with previous studies. The finite element analysis was conducted under the standard gait cycle, and contact force on ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and stresses on lateral and medial collateral ligaments were evaluated.


RESULTS
The tibial translations showed similarity with previous studies. As the tibial posterior slope angle increases, the contact stress area increased and was well distributed, and the contact force on UHMWPE decreased overall. However, the maximum contact force in the case for 10° case was greater than those for others. The stresses on ligaments were the greatest and smallest in 0° and 10° cases, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The higher tibial posterior slope angle leads to the lower contact stress and more extensive stress distribution overall in posterior-stabilized total knee arthroscopy. However, it does not absolutely mean the smallest contact force. The stresses on ligaments increased with respect to the smaller tibial posterior slope angle.
Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Seoul, Korea.
Hwa-Yong
HY
Lee
Sung-Jae
SJ
Kim
Kyoung-Tak
KT
Kang
Sung-Hwan
SH
Kim
Kwan-Kyu
KK
Park