This presentation discusses why weight bearing knee radiographic examination are preferred by health practitioners over non-weight bearing examinations.

1. PREFERENCE OF WEIGHT BEARING OVER NON WEIGHT BEARING
RADIOGRAPHIC EXAMINATION OF THE KNEE.
BY
NWARU CHINONSO U 2017/251554
NWODO JENNIFER CHIKA 2017/247594
ODEKE JUDITH A 2017/247606
OBAYI JOACHIN UDOKA 2017/247600
A SEMINAR SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE COURSE RAD 591 (RESEARCH SEMINAR)
DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY AND RADIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA ENUGU CAMPUS
SUPERVISOR: DR. J. A. AGBO
MAY, 2023

2. OUTLINE
• INTRODUCTION
• ANATOMY OF THE KNEE
• RADIOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF BASIC KNEE PROJECTIONS
• WEIGHT BEARING AND FORMS OF WEIGHT BEARING KNEE PROJECTIONS
• DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR WEIGHT BEARING
• ROLES OF WEIGHT BEARING KNEE
• BENEFITS OF WEIGHT BEARING KNEE PROJECTIONS
• LIMITATIONS OF WEIGHT BEARING KNEE PROJECTIONS
• CONCLUSION
• REFERNCES

3. INTRODUCTION
• The knee examination is one of the most commonly carried out in the x-ray department.
• It is used to detect multiple pathologies associated with the knee
• Basic views for knee x-ray includes the antero-posterior position (AP) and the lateral
position
• Other views such as the skyline view and the intercondylar notch view might be included for
the diagnosis of specific pathologies
• Weight bearing projections are normally requested as a supplementary view for the diagnosis
of pathologies that may affect the weight bearing abilities of the knee joint.

4. ANATOMY OF THE KNEE JOINT
• The knee joint is a modified hinge joint and the largest synovial joint in
the body allowing for flexion and extension of the leg as well as some
degree of rotation.
• The structures found in the knee include:
• Bones,
• Ligaments
• Joints
• Muscles and tendons
• Blood vessels

5. BASIC RADIOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONS
OF THE KNEE JOINT
• Two basic projection exists to satisfy basic diagnostic requirements of the knee joint
• They include the Antero-posterior and the Lateral views
• They are usually the go-to technique when a knee radiographic exam is requested
• They have ben found to give sufficient diagnostic results in the absence of specific
pathologies
• They are also employed to identify pathologies that would then be properly
diagnosed with specific views such as the skyline views and intercondylar notch or
weight bearing knee.

6. WEIGHT BEARING KNEE PROJECTION AND
FORMS OF WEIGHT BEARING KNEE
PROJECTIONS
• Weight bearing simply refers to how much weight a person puts on an injured body part
• It is employed in knee examinations to estimate the degree of joint space loss as in
osteoarthritis and knee alignment evaluation for a knee alignment surgery.
• Forms of weight bearing knee include:
Knee Antero-posterior weight bearing
• Single knee AP weight bearing
• Bilateral knee AP weight bearing
Rosenberg projection Bilateral AP weight bearing Rosenberg projection

7. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR WEIGHT
BEARING
There are two major criteria for weight bearing
radiographic examinations of the knee
1. Arthropathy: This include the diseases of a
joint
2. Arthroplasty: The surgical procedure on a
joint to restore joint function
Osteoarthritis of the knee
Post-resection surgery of the knee

8. ROLES OF WEIGHT BEARING KNEE
• Provides more elaborate length and width of the knee joint
• Helps to present a clearer picture of the quadriceps angle
• Highlights and prove if a patient has patellofemoral pain

9. BENEFITS OF WEIGHT BEARING KNEE
PROJECTIONS
• Provides vital details of the knee joint which are often missed out on non-
weight bearing x-rays
• It gives an accurate assessment of the level of osteoarthritis by giving the
exact joint space on weight bearing.
• It gives accurate alignment of the knee.
• It gives room for comparison of the level of changes.

10. LIMITATIONS OF WEIGHT BEARING
KNEE PROJECTIONS
• Some equipment and x-ray equipment especially in developing countries have
difficulty in being adjusted for weight-bearing knees.
• Old patients and unstable patients cannot adapt to weight bearing.
• Patient with trauma is limited to avoid causing more injury to their knee.

11. CONCLUSION
• The knee is an important joint in the body with essential functions for movement
and weight bearing.
• When pathology infiltrates the knee, many of these functions are compromised
• Weight bearing knee have been shown to expose knee pathologies that would have
been otherwise undetected or unsatisfactorily demonstrated on other views
• It is also important in planning the surgery and treatment of many of these
pathologies

12. REFERENCES
• Chaurasia B. BD Chaurasia’s Human Anatomy. 4th edition. Dr. Krishna Garg, editor. Satish Kumar
Jain for CBS Publishers & Distributors; 1996. 1–518 p.
• Kenneth L. Bontrager, MA John P. Lampignano, MEd R. TEXTBOOK OF RADIOGRAPHIC
POSITIONING AND RELATED ANATOMY. 8th Edition. Mosby E, editor. 3251 Riverport Lane
St. Louis, Missouri; 2014. 1–839 p.
• Morgan B, Mullick S, Harper WM, Finlay DB, Ed F. An audit of knee radiographs performed for
general practitioners. 1997;70(March):256–60.
• LORINI C. The role of cone beam CT in the study of symptomatic total knee arthroplasty ( TKA ): a
20 cases report. Br J Radiol. 2017;(April):2–10.

13. THANK YOU