Optimizing Knee Surgery: The Role of CT Phenotyping

In the evolving landscape of orthopedic surgery, precision and personalization stand out as critical themes for achieving superior outcomes, especially in knee surgeries. While no universal guideline mandates CT phenotyping, expert consensus and society statements increasingly discuss imaging-informed personalization and perioperative risk optimization.

Recent advancements in CT phenotyping have emerged as a powerful tool to tailor total knee arthroplasty (TKA) to individual patient anatomy, while understanding lifestyle influences such as smoking and BMI highlights the importance of holistic patient assessment in arthroscopic treatments.

CT phenotyping unveils individual knee anatomy variations, which are vital for personalized surgeries. Other personalization strategies—such as kinematic alignment protocols, intraoperative sensor technologies, and robotic-assisted TKA—are also used, with varying evidence bases. Understanding knee types not only guides surgical cuts but also implant positioning, with early studies suggesting improvements in radiographic alignment and balance; definitive effects on patient-reported outcomes and revision risk remain under investigation.

Such insights are redefining surgical strategies to better align with patient-specific anatomy. Surgeons utilize CT-based preoperative planning to decide on surgical angles and bone cuts tailored to unique anatomical features.