1. An apparatus for performing an orthopedic procedure on a knee, theapparatus comprising: a femoral paddle defining a thickness, the femoralpaddle having a proximal side and an opposite distal side, the proximalside including at least one proximal femoral recess, the distal sideincluding a distal femoral recess; a tibial paddle including a tibialproximal side and an opposite tibial distal side; a load sensor disposedin the femoral recess to indicate a load on the femoral paddle; and ahousing coupled to the tibial paddle and the femoral paddle, the housingincluding a distractor to vary the distance between the tibial paddleand the femoral paddle, wherein in a closed position the tibial paddleis disposed within the distal femoral recess such that a combinedthickness of the femoral paddle, the tibial paddle and the load sensorin the closed position is substantially the same as the thickness. 2.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the femoral paddle includes aplurality of tiered recesses within the distal femoral recess and thetibial paddle includes a plurality of tiered ribs on the tibial proximalside such that each of the plurality of tiered ribs is disposed within acorresponding tiered recess in the closed position.
3. The apparatus ofclaim 2, wherein at least one of the tiered ribs contact a distalsurface of the corresponding tiered recess in the closed position. 4.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the femoral paddle extends along acentral femoral paddle axis, the femoral paddle axis separating thefemoral paddle into a femoral medial side and a femoral lateral side,and the tibial paddle extends along a central tibial paddle axis, thetibial paddle axis separating the tibial paddle into a tibial medialside and a tibial lateral side.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein thefemoral paddle axis and the tibial paddle axis are parallel to eachother and lie on a first plane.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein afemoral paddle shaft couples the femoral paddle to the housing and atibial paddle shaft couples the tibial paddle to the housing.
7. Theapparatus of claim 6, wherein the femoral paddle shaft extends along afemoral paddle shaft axis and the tibial paddle shaft extends along atibial paddle shaft axis.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein thefemoral paddle shaft axis and the tibial paddle shaft axis are parallelto each other and lie on a second plane.
9. The apparatus of claim 8,wherein the first plane is offset to the second plane.
10. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the distractor includes a distraction screw to movethe tibial paddle and/or the femoral paddle along a distraction axistransverse to the femoral paddle shaft axis and the tibial paddle shaftaxis.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the tibial paddle includesan aperture for receiving an anti-rotation shaft extending from thehousing to prevent rotation of tibial paddle about the tibial paddleshaft axis.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the housing includesan adjuster to translate the femoral paddle along an adjuster axistransverse to the distraction axis.
13. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the femoral paddle shaft is rotatable about the femoral paddleshaft axis to rotate the femoral paddle with respect to the distractionaxis.
 14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a medial load center of amedial condyle in contact with the femoral medial side lies on a medialload center axis and a lateral load center of a later condyle in contactwith the femoral lateral side lies on a lateral load center axis. 15.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein a medial offset distance measuredbetween the medial load center axis and the femoral paddle shaft axisalong the femoral paddle is less than a lateral offset distance measuredbetween the lateral load center axis and the femoral paddle shaft axisalong the femoral paddle.
16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein thelateral offset distance allows the femoral paddle and tibial paddle tobe placed between a femur and a tibia in posterior-anterior directionwithout everting a patella.
17. An apparatus for performing anorthopedic procedure on a knee, the apparatus comprising: a femoralpaddle defining a thickness, the femoral paddle having a proximal sideand an opposite distal side, the proximal side including at least oneproximal femoral recess, the distal side including a distal femoralrecess; a tibial paddle including a tibial proximal side and an oppositetibial distal side; and a housing coupled to the tibial paddle and thefemoral paddle, the housing including a distractor to vary the distancebetween the tibial paddle and the femoral paddle, wherein in a closedposition the tibial paddle is disposed within the distal femoral recesssuch that a combined thickness of the femoral paddle and the tibialpaddle in the closed position is equal to the thickness.
18. Theapparatus of claim 17, further including a load sensor disposed in thefemoral recess to indicate a load on the femoral paddle.
 19. A method ofperforming an orthopedic procedure on a knee, the method comprising thesteps of: resecting a proximal tibia; placing a femoral paddle and atibial paddle of a knee balancer in a closed position without everting apatella, the femoral paddle contacting an unresected distal femur andthe tibial paddle contacting the resected proximal tibia in the closedposition, the femoral paddle defining a thickness, the femoral paddlehaving a proximal side and an opposite distal side, the proximal sideincluding at least one proximal femoral recess, the distal sideincluding a distal femoral recess, the tibial paddle including a tibialproximal side and an opposite tibial distal side; distracting the kneejoint using a housing coupled to the tibial paddle and the femoralpaddle, the housing including a distractor to vary the distance betweenthe tibial paddle and the femoral paddle; and measuring knee loads usinga load sensor disposed in the femoral recess to indicate a load on thefemoral paddle, wherein the tibial paddle is disposed within the distalfemoral recess such that a combined thickness of the femoral paddle, thetibial paddle and the load sensor in the closed position issubstantially the same as the thickness.
20. The method of claim 19,further including the step of taking the knee joint through flexion andextension to measure knee gap and knee tension while the patella remainseverted..
