Mylène Jansen

132 Chapter 7 Table 1 : Overview of characteristics of the dedicated knee distraction device Device weight is below 1500 grams. Surgery can be performed within 45 minutes. Bone pins are positioned extra-articular, not compromising the area for primary TKA. Bone pins are positioned perpendicularly to longitudinal axis of tibia. System can be adjusted in case of complications (soft tissue swelling/infection).* No protruding parts are present above the most proximal and below the most distal bone pins. Protruding bone pins are shielded for minimal interference during treatment. The pin tracts are accessible for pin tract care.* The distraction direction and method is visually indicated. 5 millimeter distraction is applied in the longitudinal axis of the tibia. Within the distraction, 3 millimeter deflection is present at full weight-bearing. Italics indicate characteristics that are new with respect to the concept distraction device; * indicate characteristics that have been improved with respect to the concept device. TKA: total knee arthroplasty. Figure 1 : Radiographs of the concept (CD) device (left) and dedicated distraction (DD) device (right) in use. The surgical procedure for fixation of both devices is equal and performed with similar half pins. Methods Groups and patient selection 44 Patients were treated for severe knee OA with KJD either with the CD device (n=22) (Monotube Triax, Stryker GmbH, Selzach, Switzerland; the most often used KJD device reported on in previous studies) or with the DD device (n=22) (KneeReviver, BAAT Medical BV, Hengelo, The Netherlands). The criteria for study participation were equal for the 2 groups (Table 2).