Measured resection versus gap balancing technique for femoral rotational alignment: a prospective study.

PURPOSE To compare the measured resection technique and the gap balancing technique for correction of the femoral rotational alignment. METHODS 57 women and 6 men (mean age, 70 years) with end-stage osteoarthritis and <15º malalignment and <10º flexion contracture of the knee underwent primary total knee arthroplasty through the medial approach using the measured resection technique (n=34) or the gap balancing technique (n=29). Femoral rotational alignment was evaluated before and 7 days after surgery using computed tomography by referencing the 2 posterior condyles to the transepicondylar axis. RESULTS The 2 groups did not differ significantly in terms of correction of the femoral rotational alignment (3.4º ± 1.4º vs. 3.5º ± 3.1º, p=0.817). CONCLUSION The measured resection and the gap balancing techniques achieved comparable correction of femoral rotational alignment.