Posterior cruciate ligament balancing during total knee arthroplasty.

This study was undertaken to describe and evaluate the use of a posterior cruciate ligament balancing technique in total knee arthroplasty. Two hundred sixty total knee arthroplasties in 156 patients were performed between January 1984 and December 1985 using the described technique of posterior cruciate ligament balancing when necessary. Seventy-eight arthroplasties (30%) required ligament balancing to obtain a smooth flexion arc. At 1-year minimum follow-up evaluation, no knee was found to be unstable in the anterior-posterior plane. Average flexion arc for the posterior cruciate ligament balanced knees was 2 degrees - 114 degrees and for the standard arthroplasty was 2 degrees - 107 degrees. Posterior cruciate ligament balancing is a useful adjunct in total knee arthroplasty surgery when flexion gap tightness occurs.