Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Sriselvakumar S, Knipe H, Posterior tibial slope. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 18 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-157694
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:
- Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
- Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)
These were assessed during peer review and were determined to
not be relevant to the changes that were made.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosures
Posterior tibial slope (PTS) is the slope of the tibial plateau from anterior to posterior relative to the longitudinal axis of the tibia.
Posterior tibial slope can affect knee range of motion, flexion gap, knee joint stability, ACL ligament stability and posterior femoral rollback 1,2. Measurement and usage of this angle has important role in total knee replacement, high tibial osteotomy, and anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction 3.
It is measured by drawing two lines both tangential of posterior tibial cortex and tibial plateau. The angle between the two lines is the posterior tibial slope 1.
Mean posterior tibial slope angle was around 7.7 degrees in medial compartment to that of 6.85 in lateral 1.
Increased (up to 5x) risk of further injury after ACL reconstruction with a posterior tibial slope of ≥12° 3.
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1. Karimi E, Norouzian M, Birjandinejad A, Zandi R, Makhmalbaf H. Measurement of Posterior Tibial Slope Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Arch Bone Jt Surg. 2017;5(6):435-9. PMC5736893 - Pubmed
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2. Dean R, Larson C, Waterman B. Posterior Tibial Slope: Understand Bony Morphology to Protect Knee Cruciate Ligament Grafts. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery. 2021;37(7):2029-30. doi:10.1016/j.arthro.2021.05.006 - Pubmed
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3. Chen Y, Ding J, Dai S et al. Radiographic Measurement of the Posterior Tibial Slope in Normal Chinese Adults: A Retrospective Cohort Study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2022;23(1):386. doi:10.1186/s12891-022-05319-4 - Pubmed
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4. Webb J, Salmon L, Leclerc E, Pinczewski L, Roe J. Posterior Tibial Slope and Further Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries in the Anterior Cruciate Ligament-Reconstructed Patient. Am J Sports Med. 2013;41(12):2800-4. doi:10.1177/0363546513503288 - Pubmed
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