The shape and alignment of your knee are unique to you, even when your knee is healthy. Although many legs are almost straight, some are naturally varus or valgus.
Knee alignment can also change due to the onset of arthritis. Because of these factors, it may not be ideal to make all knees straight after knee replacement surgery.
To personalize your knee replacement surgery for your specific knee anatomy, advanced 3D planning is a crucial first step.
With kinematic knee alignment, the surgeon aims to restore the natural knee shape and knee alignment that each patient had when their knee was still healthy.
This is done by carefully matching the knee replacement surgery to each patient’s individual anatomy.
Kinematic knee alignment can potentially make recovery from knee surgery easier and faster10, compared to traditional knee replacement surgery.
Traditional knee replacement surgery using Mechanical Alignment, or MA, aims to give every patient straight “knee alignment,” regardless of the patient’s individual alignment prior to surgery.
Therefore, a mechanically aligned total knee replacement frequently changes the natural alignment of your knee and your leg.
