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 <15 degrees malalignment and <10 degrees 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 (3.4 degrees +/- 1.4 degrees vs. 3.5 degrees +/- 3.1 degrees, p=0.817). Conclusion. The measured resection and the gap balancing techniques achieved comparable correction of femoral rotational alignment.