1 3 Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc DOI 10.1007/s00167-015-3609-5 KNEE Anthropometric measurements of tibial plateau and correlation with the current tibial implants Omer Faruk Erkocak 1 · Fatih Kucukdurmaz 2 · Safak Sayar 2 · Mehmet Emin Erdil 2 · Hasan Huseyin Ceylan 2 · Ibrahim Tuncay 2 Received: 28 October 2014 / Accepted: 16 April 2015 © European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery, Arthroscopy (ESSKA) 2015 P < 0.05) had tibial anteroposterior diameters smaller than the smallest available tibial component. Conclusion Tibial components designed according to anthropometric measurements of Western populations do not perfectly meet the requirements of Turkish population. These data could provide the basis for designing the opti- mal and smaller tibial component for this population, espe- cially for women, is required for best fit. Level of evidence II. Keywords Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) · Tibial plateau anthropometry · Tibial component · Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Introduction Currently, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is considered the treatment of choice in the advanced stages of knee osteo- arthritis, particularly for its ability to provide function and pain relief. To achieve a successful outcome in TKA, aside from accurate bone cutting and adequate balancing of the soft tissues, maximizing tibial coverage with the correct component size is mandatory for minimizing the stress applied to the bone–implant interface and ensuring an appropriate load transmission [2, 16–18]. Thus, an anthro- pometrically well-designed knee prosthesis that matches properly to the resected surface of the bone is key for long- term survivorship in TKA [6]. Compared to the femoral side, the tibial component is more prone to complications in TKA [4]. If a tibial com- ponent does not match properly to the resected proximal part of the tibia, the surgeon may have to choose either a larger, overhanging component or a smaller, underhang- ing one [31, 32]. An underhanging tibial component in the Abstract Purpose The aim of the study was to make an anthro- pometric analysis at the resected surfaces of the proximal tibia in the Turkish population and to compare the data with the dimensions of tibial components in current use. We hypothesized that tibial components currently available on the market do not fulfil the requirements of this population and a new tibial component design may be required, espe- cially for female patients with small stature. Methods Anthropometric data from the proximal tibia of 226 knees in 226 Turkish subjects were measured using magnetic resonance imaging. We measured the mediolat- eral, middle anteroposterior, medial and lateral anteropos- terior dimensions and the aspect ratio of the resected proxi- mal tibial surface. All morphological data were compared with the dimensions of five contemporary tibial implants, including asymmetric and symmetric design types. Results The dimensions of the tibial plateau of Turk- ish knees demonstrated significant differences according to gender (P < 0.05). Among the different tibial implants reviewed, neither asymmetric nor symmetric designs exhibited a perfect conformity to proximal tibial morphol- ogy in size and shape. The vast majority of tibial implants involved in this study tend to overhang anteroposteriorly, and a statistically significant number of women (21 %, * Omer Faruk Erkocak farukerkocak@gmail.com; farukerkocak@selcuk.edu.tr 1 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya 42075, Turkey 2 Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, Faculty of Medicine, BezmialemVakif University, Istanbul, Turkey