Quieter, ACL/PCL Preserving, More Natural Knee! (Orthopedics This Week)
A team of joint preservation superstars have dusted off a concept that was waiting in the wings…and given it wings. Adolph V. Lombardi, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S. is president of Joint Implant Surgeons, Inc. in New Albany, Ohio. Dr. Lombardi tells OTW, “Along with my colleagues—Keith Berend, Craig Della Valle, Jeff DeClaire, Chris Peters, Professor Thomas Andriacchi, and Jorge Galante—I have developed a new design of a knee that preserves the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). With roughly 120 surgeons across the globe implanting them, the preliminary comments from patients are that the knee feels more normal than a standard knee. For the surgeon, it feels more stable during the procedure.”
“While the concept of an ACL/PCL preserving knee is not new, it didn’t gain traction because the instrumentation was archaic. The design involved putting in the femur and tibia and doing distraction in flexion and extension…it was cumbersome. The new instrumentation that we have developed is very streamlined; the most challenging part is cutting the tibia and preserving the central island of...
