by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Total knee arthroplasty

Ask during the case

  1. At the arthrotomy: "Which layers are we cutting right now, and how would a midvastus or subvastus handle the VMO differently?"
  2. During the tibial cut: "What is directly behind the posterior capsule, front to back, and what protects it while the saw is running?"
  3. At closure: "Which skin nerve did the incision most likely cross, and what will the patient notice at the follow-up visit?"

Point at: the medial edge of the patella and the VMO insertion as the arthrotomy goes through them, then the hip-to-ankle line on the standing film in the room.

End of day: "Redraw the knee cross-section and the long-leg lines for me." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

The night before. They prep alone, redraw at turnover, and get a cold check tomorrow morning. They won't see these questions.

Open the student page

Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.