Posterior tibial slope measurement among Saudi population

Abstract

To measure the posterior slope of the tibia among the healthy Saudi population using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). A retrospective study review of 151 knee MRIs at King Khaled University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All patients with no previous surgical intervention to their knees and did not suffer any bone injury around the knee were included. Three different orthopedic physicians (two senior residents, one orthopedic fellow) measured the posterior tibial slope (PTS) angle for all patients, and their average was taken for all readings using a sagittal T2 MRI cut. Patients with a history of previous surgical intervention to the knee joint, trauma involving distal femur or proximal tibia, osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis, and congenital deformities were excluded from the study. The mean age of patients was 28.15 in a range of 15-50 years. The posterior tibial slope mean and the median and the mode were 8.76, 8.73, 7.53, respectively. In addition, the mean angle (degree) in females was 9.69±4.02 and 8.76±4.15 in males. The Maximum and the minimum posterior slope angle calculated in these patients were respectively 19.73 and 0.3 degrees. Our findings are that the mean posterior tibia slope among the Saudi population is 8.76˚. The results showed the difference of PTS in Saudi people comparing to deferent communities. The association between the numbers of the posterior tibial slope with gender was tested and no significant correlation. In this study, we did not calculate weight and height in the cases as independent factors. Because of that, upcoming studies might consider these factors.