PROPRIOCEPTION FOLLOWING TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY WITH AND WITHOUT THEPOSTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT

Proprioception was measured in two groups of patients following succes sful total knee arthroplasty (TKA). In one group, the posterior crucia te ligament was retained and an unconstrained cruciate-retaining total knee component was used; in the other group, the posterior cruciate l igament was excised and a cruciate-substituting design was implanted. Threshold to detection of passive motion was quantified as a measure o f proprioception. The degree of preoperative arthritis was objectively classified according to Resnick and Niwoyama. There was no difference in threshold to detection of passive motion in cruciate-retaining ver sus cruciate-substituting TKA. In patients with a moderate grade of ar thritis before surgery, the postoperative scores were virtually identi cal, When the grade of preoperative arthritis was severe, patients wit h cruciate-substituting TKAs performed significantly better than those with cruciate-retaining TKAs.