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Posterior tibial slope of the knee measured on X-rays in a Turkish population

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Abstract

Purpose

Posterior tibial inclination of the knee joint should be considered during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and total knee replacement surgery. This inclination is called the posterior tibial slope (PTS) angle. The PTS differs among populations and the aim of this study was to determine the mean PTS in a Turkish population.

Methods

PTS was measured retrospectively on lateral knee X-rays (n = 1024). The angle between the line connecting the anterior and posterior points of the lateral tibial plateau and the tibial longitudinal axis was taken as the PTS angle. Intra- and inter-observer agreement regarding the measurements on 20 X-rays were checked.

Results

The mean PTS angle for the entire cohort was 8.36 ± 3.3° (range: 2.1–18.7°); it was 8.57 ± 3.4° (range: 2.3–17.4°) in men and 8.16 ± 3.2° (range: 2.1–18.7°) in women. Although no significant correlation was detected between PTS and age, PTS was higher in men than in women.

Conclusion

The increasing number of total knee replacement surgeries has increased the need for studies on implant mismatch. In this study, reference PTS values were determined for a Turkish population. It may be beneficial to use patient-specific implants in some cases.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs. Filiz Olmez Eltez for her technical support with this study. The English in this document has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.

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The author(s) received no specific funding for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, 35180, Izmir, Turkey

    Ismail Eralp Kacmaz, Yuksel Topkaya, Can Doruk Basa, Vadym Zhamilov & Ali Reisoglu

  2. Department of Radiology, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey

    Ali Er

  3. Department of Forensic Medicine, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey

    Oguzhan Ekizoglu

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  1. Ismail Eralp Kacmaz
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Contributions

IEK: Protocol development, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. YT: Data collection or management. CDB: Data analysis, manuscript editing. VZ: Data analysis, manuscript editing. AE: Data analysis, manuscript editing. AR: Data collection or management, manuscript editing. OE: Protocol development, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing,

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Correspondence to Ismail Eralp Kacmaz.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study protocol was approved by the İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital Clinical Research Ethics Committee (No: 2019/ 16–9).

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Kacmaz, I.E., Topkaya, Y., Basa, C.D. et al. Posterior tibial slope of the knee measured on X-rays in a Turkish population. Surg Radiol Anat 42, 673–679 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-020-02430-w

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