Preoperative Planning - smith&nephew RT-PLUS Surgical Technique

Preoperative Planning

A full-leg X-ray with the patient in the standing position is recommended for preoperative-
planning purposes. If this is not possible, an X-ray of the thigh, including the femoral head,
should be taken. The X-ray images of the knee joint at three levels should be available for
planning the surgery. A tangential patellar exposure, a frontal and a sagittal to the leg axis
exposure must be taken.
10
For preoperative planning there are X-ray tem-
plates available: with scale of 1.15:1 Lit. No. 1135
and with scale of 1:1 Lit. No. 1584 (see page
74). The lateral view of the condyles is deci-
sive. If these are no longer completely intact,
it is possible to switch to the condylar width.
In cases of doubt, the smaller implant should
be selected to prevent the prosthesis com-
ponents from protruding. In normal cases,
the size determination and the correct posi-
tioning of the prosthesis are controlled intra-
operatively with relevant instruments, and
planning may also be possible on the unre-
stored opposite side leg.
Note
The femoral and tibial component sizes can
all be combined with the next size up or
down (see product overview on page 76 ff).
This does not apply to combinations of sizes
2 and 4.
Large deviations of the femoral-neck angle as
well as severe deformities of femur and tibia
(e.g., posttraumatic axial deformities) must be
taken into consideration during surgical plan-
ning.
In rare cases of deformities away from the knee
joint that negatively infl uence the mechanical
leg axis, additional corrective osteotomies may
be indicated.