PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Connor Ojard AU - Alexander Habashy AU - Mark Meyer AU - George Chimento AU - John L. Ochsner TI - Effect of Obesity on Component Alignment in Total Knee Arthroplasty AID - 10.31486/toj.18.0005 DP - 2018 Sep 21 TA - Ochsner Journal PG - 226--229 VI - 18 IP - 3 4099 - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/18/3/226.short 4100 - http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/18/3/226.full SO - Ochsner J2018 Sep 21; 18 AB - Background: Obesity is routinely cited as a negative predictive factor for outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), but the direct mechanism responsible for this relationship has not been described. One possible explanation is a propensity for component malalignment in obese patients that is attributable to difficulty with surgical exposure.Methods: This study evaluated the effect of obesity on TKA component alignment in 251 primary TKAs during a 12-month period at a single center in 2009. Postoperative component alignment was retrospectively measured and compared between patients defined as obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥30 kg/m2) and patients defined as nonobese (BMI <30 kg/m2). Alignment was determined by measuring the coronal tibiofemoral angle, coronal femoral component angle, coronal tibial component angle, sagittal femoral component angle, and sagittal tibial component angle in all of the study patients.Results: Statistical analysis failed to demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between obesity and component alignment in any of the measured parameters.Conclusion: The results of this study support that obesity does not negatively affect TKA component alignment; another factor must be associated with the worse outcomes in obese patients undergoing TKA.