Anthropometry of the proximal tibia to design a total knee prosthesis for the Japanese population.

Anthropometric data on proximal tibiae of 100 knees in 80 Japanese patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty were obtained. Anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) lengths of the tibia were measured on computed tomography scans and intraoperatively on tibial resection surfaces. A special small component is unnecessary, and size variation should focus on ML length of 65 to 75 mm because this includes 90% of women's knees. AP-to-ML ratio had a negative correlation with ML length, indicating that small knees were longer in the AP direction. Most prostheses had AP mismatch up to 5 mm for small women's knees. These data could provide the basis for designing the optimal tibial component for most of the Asian-Pacific population. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.