Knee unit

The main focus of research performed by the Knee Reconstruction Unit (KRU) is on clinical and functional performance of patients following knee reconstruction for degenerative diseases.

Osteotomy
Open wedge high tibial osteotomy has now been proven a safe treatment. The addition of early weight bearing is being evaluated in a new group of patients. The effect of tibial, femoral and combined osteotomies on gait patterns is analyzed in the gait laboratory with the VICON motion analysis system.

Prostheses
Prosthetic treatment evaluation focuses on ligament surgery and the factors that influence the degrees of freedom for the position of the prosthesis. Techniques to assess ligament balancing have been developed and analyzed and are now in clinical use. Currently, design aspects of different prostheses types are evaluated in two randomized controlled trials, one comparing the Journey and the Genesis II implants and one comparing mobile and fixed bearing types of the BalanSys implant.

Revision knee arthroplasty
In revision knee arthroplasty, the project on clinical outcome after revision surgery is undertaken in close cooperation with the University Hospital Pellenberg in Leuven, Belgium. Stability of the cemented and uncemented stem component in revision surgery is closely monitored in an RSA study.

PhD projects
The unit also participates in two PhD projects, namely the "reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament bundle using computer assisted surgery" and "evaluation of the use of computer assistance in total knee arthroplasty".

A list of the knee studies follows:

• Flexion instability after primary TKP
• Flexion instability after primary TKP
• Health service utilization of patients with end-stage oa of the hip or knee
• Meniscal transplantation
• Risk on cancer after first knee or hip arthroplasty
• Trochleaplasty in patients with severe troclea dyplasia and objective patellar instability
• The tibiofemoral contact point in knees with tkr and in normal knees: normal values and reproducibility
• Stability of open versus closed high tibial osteotomy
• Stability of an open wedge high tibial osteotomy
• Self Aligning (SAL) knee prosthesis
• Prospective cohort of the Genesis revison total knee prosthesis
• Primary stability of cemented vs uncemented stems in revision total knee arthroplasty measured with RSA.
• Mobile versus fixed bearing total knee arthroplasty, a multicenter randomised controlled trial
• Medial and lateral collateral ligament reconstruction
• Gait and double osteotomy
• Flexion and extension laxity of knees with a balansys medial unicondylar knee prosthesis compared tot the oxford knee prosthesis
• Evaluation of a new surgical implantation technique for the journey cr total knee arthroplasty
• Anatomic double bundle ACL reconstruction
• Tuberosity transfer
• Gait and valgus correction osteotomy
• Journey vs Genesis II total knee arthroplasty
• Computer assisted implantation of BalanSys total knee arthroplasty