Abstract
The decision to retain the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is an issue of some debate. The use of a PCL substituting prosthesis relieves the surgeon of the task of properly tensioning the PCL and allows better surgical exposure (Scuderi and Insall, 1989). Moreover, in vitro studies of post-TKA PCL strain (Incavo et al., 1994) as well as clinical studies of TKA function (Worland et al., 1997) have failed to show a significant difference between PCL retaining and substituting knees. In some cases, however, patellofemoral joint (PFJ) complications such as stress fractures have been observed at a higher rate in the PCL substituting knee (Scuderi and Insall, 1989). The objective of this study was to determine the effect of PCL substitution on PFJ forces and anterior-posterior (A/P) drawer. The study proceeded from the hypothesis that no differences between posterior stabilization and cruciate retention would occur.
