Iatrogenic Patella Baja Following Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty: Is the Patellar Tendon to Blame?

Publication/Presentation Date

5-1-2026

Abstract

Patellar tendon shortening (PTS) following primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is thought to occur because of excessive soft tissue tensioning during wound closure. Few studies have examined the incidence of acute PTS in TKA patients. The purpose of this prospective study was to evaluate the incidence and clinical implications of acute PTS after primary TKA. All patients undergoing primary TKA for osteoarthritis (OA) from January 2024 through April 2024 by a single, fellowship-trained surgeon were included. Patient demographics and range of motion (ROM) were recorded preoperatively. Range of motion and physical therapy (PT) requirements were recorded at 6-week follow-up. Patellar tendon length was determined by the Insall-Salvati ratio (ISR) and measured preoperatively, on postoperative day (POD) 0, and at 6 weeks following surgery. Significant PTS was defined as a decrease in the ISR of ≥10%. In total, 89 patients were included in the analysis. Of these, 54 (60.7%) patients experienced significant PTS and 35 (39.3%) did not experience significant PTS immediately following TKA. Preoperative ISR and ROM was similar between cohorts; however, on POD 0, the ISR decreased by 21.9 ± 8.7% in the significant PTS cohort versus 0.8 ± 10.9% (

Volume

39

Issue

6

First Page

322

Last Page

328

ISSN

1938-2480

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

41224230

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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