Cartilage thickness can be accurately measured intraoperatively in total knee arthroplasty: A step further in calipered kinematic alignment.

Introduction: Kinematic alignment (KA) in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is by definition a pure femoral resurfacing procedure aiming to restore the individual prearthritic anatomy. However, when a 2 mm compensation is systematically used on the worn side, the variability in cartilage thickness in the unworn compartment might alter the accuracy of the technique. This study aimed to validate two intraoperative femoral cartilage thickness measurement techniques by comparing them to the photographic method, which measures cartilage thickness through pixel analysis of bone-cut images.