FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS OF PRE-KNEE AND POST-KNEE SURGERY - TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY AND ACL RECONSTRUCTION

This PaPer examines the biomechanics of total knee arthroplasty as a t reatment for arthritis and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruc tion for repair of torn anterior cruciate ligaments of the knee. These are two of the most frequent reconstructive procedures for the knee j oint. Functional testing of patients while performing various activiti es of daily living was used to study the relationship between the intr insic biomechanics of the knee and function. The results of the study of patients following total knee replacement demonstrated a dynamic in teraction between the posterior cruciate ligament and quadriceps funct ion during stairclimbing. The study of patients with A CL-deficient kn ees demonstrated that loss of the anterior cruciate ligament can cause the avoidance of quadriceps contraction during activities when the kn ee is near full extension. Other studies demonstrated a relationship b etween tibiofemoral joint mechanics and patellofemoral mechanics. In a ddition, the importance of combined ligamentous laxity with higher tha n normal adduction moments during gait was examined in relationship to progressive degenerative changes to the medial compartment of the kne e. In summary, functional testing such as gait analysis has proven to be an important basic research tool as well as extremely effective for clinical testing of new procedures and devices.