Eight fresh, cadaveric knees have been fitted with four different total knee cemented prostheses. Loading forces at the bone implant fixation interface of the patella component have been measured in a knee joint testing rig by four miniaturized force transducers, before and after a lateral release of the patellar retinaculum. The lateral release resulted in a significant local force reduction in the lateral and/or proximal quadrant of the patella resection plane depending on the knee flexion angle, quadriceps tensile force direction, and the patellar prosthesis design.