Variations in ankle registration using two different anatomic landmarks: a radiographic study.

PURPOSE: To quantify the average deviation in tibial mechanical axis registration when registering the ankle centre using (a) the extreme medial and lateral points and (b) the most distal points, of the respective malleoli, and to identify whether body mass index (BMI) had any significant effect on mechanical axis registration error.

METHODS: The preoperative standing hip-knee-ankle radiographs of 40 patients who underwent navigated TKR at our institution were reviewed. The divergence from the anatomic ankle centre in degrees and millimetres was compared when using the Extremes Midpoint and the Distal Midpoint techniques.

RESULTS: No significant divergence was measured with either the Extremes Midpoint (0.2° lateral, SD = 0.5°; 1.1 mm lateral, SD = 2.6 mm) or the Distal Midpoint (0.2° lateral, SD = 0.6°; 1.7 mm lateral, SD = 2.3 mm) techniques. BMI had no significant effect on these differences.

CONCLUSIONS: Both the Extremes Midpoint and the Distal Midpoint techniques offer accurate registration of the ankle centre. BMI does not seem to affect the registration of the ankle centre with either technique. The findings of this study will help knee surgeons when choosing an ankle registration technique. These results may also lead to more accurate knee replacement navigation systems.