No consistent association between patient-reported outcome measures and coronal alignment following total knee arthroplasty: a narrative review.

Background: Total knee arthroplasty is a common procedure for treating knee conditions; however, significant proportions of patients report dissatisfaction post-operatively. Recent data suggests accurate coronal alignment may not be essential for optimizing prosthesis functionality and survivorship. This narrative review utilized a systematic approach to analyse the literature comparing post-operative coronal alignment and PROMs following knee replacement.

Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE was utilized to identify publications that directly compare the relationship between coronal alignment and PROMs.

Results: Thirty-one eligible publications were identified. Variability in both study design and findings were observed, with no studies being without risk of bias.

Conclusion: Given this variability and lack of consensus among the reported publications, current literature is ill-equipped to describe the exact nature of the relationship between coronal alignment and PROMs following TKA. Further research would ideally utilize both validated generic, and knee-specific PROMs, make use of pre-operative outcome data, and standardized follow-up to develop reliable assessments of coronal alignment and its impact upon both functionality and quality of life.