Porous coated anatomic tricompartmental tibial components. The relationship between prosthetic position and micromotion.

Micromotion of the tibial component, both as migration over time and as inducible displacement in response to external physiologic forces, was studied in 20 cases of gonarthrosis. The patients had Porous Coated Anatomic primary total knee arthroplasty and were followed for four years. All cases but one were clinically successful. Thirteen components were inserted without cement, while in seven, high-viscosity Palacos cement was used. Full postoperative weight bearing was allowed in all cases. During the first year, noncemented components migrated a mean of 2.6 mm, while cemented components migrated a mean of 1.1 mm. About 1 mm of migration of noncemented components was in the downward direction, i.e., subsidence occurred, mostly during the first year. After one year, the noncemented components had stabilized more than the cemented ones. There was a significant correlation between the migration after one year and the postoperative prosthetic position and alignment of the leg. A mean maximum inducible displacement (the total vector displacement of the prosthetic marker that moved the most) of 0.7 mm and 0.4 mm was found for noncemented and cemented components, respectively. The micromotion found was of the same magnitude as that for other cemented and noncemented prosthetic systems previously reported.