Accuracy of soft tissue balancing in total knee arthroplasty.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the accuracy of balancing of the flexion and extension gaps in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Measurements of the heights of the flexion and extension gaps were obtained during 104 consecutive primary, posterior-stabilized TKAs in osteoarthritic patients. Clinically, all knees appeared to be well balanced intraoperatively. Rectangular flexion and extension gaps almost always were obtained within 1 mm (84%-89%). None of the knees was >3 mm from being perfectly rectangular. Equality of the flexion and extension gaps was more difficult to obtain (47%-57% were within 1 mm). With meticulous attention, perfect soft tissue balance is not always achieved in TKA.