OrthAlign, Inc., a privately held U.S.-based medical device company, has entered into a distribution agreement with Lima, France for its total knee arthroplasty (TKA) technology called KneeAlign.
OrthAlign Goes to France
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KneeAlign provides both tibial and distal femoral navigation in a palm-sized, single-use device that, according to the company, is compatible with all implant systems. French orthopedic surgeon André Ferreira, of Ancien Interne des Hôpitaux of Lyon, said, “KneeAlign is efficient because it provides accurate information about tibial slope and flexion-extension of the femur, which we did not have so accessible before. Varus-valgus alignment is also beneficial because, previously, we only did valgus estimation of the femur with X-rays. KneeAlign is like computer assisted surgery, but all of the data and the accuracy are now in the palm of my hand.”
Approximately 45, 000 TKAs are performed in France each year. That number is growing annually at a rate of 10% according to OrthAlign’s release. Company officials said that they believe the future for TKAs lies in technology that improves results, promotes consistency, reduces operating time, decreases patient hospital stays, and eases patient pain.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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