Immediate recovery room radiographs after primary total knee arthroplasty-why do we keep doing them?

Yona Kosashvili, Mansour Alvi, Ian P. Mayne, Oleg Safir, Alan Gross, David Backstein

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recovery room radiographs (RRR) are routinely performed after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This study investigates the utility of these radiographs. Twenty four arthroplasty surgeons were surveyed to rank the value of RRRs. Since RRRs were primarily valued for educational purposes, we examined the ability of 49 orthopaedic trainees to determine the coronal alignment of TKA performed in cadaveric specimens based on these radiographs in neutral, 10° internal and external rotations. Surgeons rated the quality of the RRRs to be significantly lower than the radiographs taken in the radiology suite (5.5 ± 2.5 versus 8.9 ± 0.9, p < 0.0001). Of an estimated 65,910 TKAs performed by these surgeons, only eight cases (0.01%) required same day revision based on the RRR. Neutral alignment was significantly more accurately (p < 0.0001) interpreted than valgus or varus (69.4% versus 42.9% and 16.3%, respectively). Surprisingly, internal rotation of the limb significantly improved interpretation of both varus (from 16.3% to 40.8%, p = 0.014) and valgus (from 42.9% to 63.3%, p = 0.048). Increased level of orthopaedic training did not significantly affect the accuracy of interpretation (p = 0.46). Interpretation of RRRs for coronal malalignment is inaccurate and has a limited educational value.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1167-1173
Number of pages7
JournalInternational Orthopaedics
Volume34
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2010
Externally publishedYes

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