The morphometric analysis of the male cadaveric native knees of the ethnic igbos of South East Nigeria and its implication in total knee replacement

Background: In spite of its consideration as a very successful procedure nearly all total knee replacement (TKR) prostheses were designed based on the parameters of male 4,Western, and primarily white native knees. Mismatch between prosthesis and bone surface or malposition can lead to poor outcome of TKR. Aim: To determine the parameters of the native knee of the ethnic Igbos of South East Nigeria, determine any correlations amongst them ,compare the values with that of other populations and discuss its implication in total knee replacement. Materials and Method: The study was carried out on male adult cadavers with normal knees found at the museum of the Department of Anatomy University of Nigeria and all cadavers whose knees were deformed or had any pathological condition were excluded from the study. There were 60 knees from 30 male cadavers. Measurements were taken independently from the distal femur and proximal tibia with a method with the aid of a Vernier sliding calipers. Results: The determined values of the parameters of the cadaveric knees in centimeters are as follows: FLAP: M=7.10,SD=.44, FMAP: M=6.83,SD=.42, FML:M=7.78,SD=.40, FAR: M=1.10,SD=.06, TLAP:M=4.65,SD=.23, TMAP:M=5.17,SD=.27, TML: M=7.88,SD=.29, TAR:M=1.53. SD=.06. Conclusion: The normal values of the knee parameters of the native knee of the ethnic Igbos of the South Eastern Nigeria has been established and these should be taken into consideration by medical engineers during component design and arthroplasty surgeon during total knee replacement. There are correlations between these parameters that could be useful as a decision making tool during TKR and finally, the differences between these parameters and that of ethnic Western and Asian populations should be noted by implant manufacturers and arthroplasty surgeons.