A system for load balancing a knee joint between a first bone and second bone in a knee replacement procedure, the system comprising: a knee replacement device including: a first prosthetic component having a first contact surface replacing a portion of the first bone; and a second prosthetic component having a second contact surface replacing a portion of the second bone and configured for contacting the first contact surface; and an elongate ligament tension element (140, 206) including: a longitudinal ligament functional stabilization portion sized and shaped to extend along an existing knee ligament on a first side of the knee joint; a transverse tensioning portion coupled to the longitudinal functional stabilization portion, wherein the transverse tensioning portion is sized and shaped to extend within a passage through bone from the first side to an opposite, second side of the knee joint, characterized in that the transverse tensioning portion is configured to be tensioned to a plurality of tensions; a first anchoring element being adjacent to the transverse tensioning portion at a first end of the elongate ligament tension element and configured for anchoring the elongate ligament tension element to the first bone, wherein the first anchoring element is configured to maintain the transverse tensioning portion at a selected tension of the plurality of tensions; and a second anchoring element being adjacent to the longitudinal ligament functional stabilization portion at an opposite, second end of the elongate ligament tension element and configured for anchoring the elongate ligament tension element to the second bone on the opposite, second side of the knee joint, wherein the elongate ligament tension element is configured to maintain the first prosthetic component and the second prosthetic component in a balanced configuration within the knee joint. a knee replacement device including: a first prosthetic component having a first contact surface replacing a portion of the first bone; and a second prosthetic component having a second contact surface replacing a portion of the second bone and configured for contacting the first contact surface; and a first prosthetic component having a first contact surface replacing a portion of the first bone; and a second prosthetic component having a second contact surface replacing a portion of the second bone and configured for contacting the first contact surface; and an elongate ligament tension element (140, 206) including: a longitudinal ligament functional stabilization portion sized and shaped to extend along an existing knee ligament on a first side of the knee joint; a transverse tensioning portion coupled to the longitudinal functional stabilization portion, wherein the transverse tensioning portion is sized and shaped to extend within a passage through bone from the first side to an opposite, second side of the knee joint, characterized in that the transverse tensioning portion is configured to be tensioned to a plurality of tensions; a first anchoring element being adjacent to the transverse tensioning portion at a first end of the elongate ligament tension element and configured for anchoring the elongate ligament tension element to the first bone, wherein the first anchoring element is configured to maintain the transverse tensioning portion at a selected tension of the plurality of tensions; and a second anchoring element being adjacent to the longitudinal ligament functional stabilization portion at an opposite, second end of the elongate ligament tension element and configured for anchoring the elongate ligament tension element to the second bone on the opposite, second side of the knee joint, wherein the elongate ligament tension element is configured to maintain the first prosthetic component and the second prosthetic component in a balanced configuration within the knee joint. a longitudinal ligament functional stabilization portion sized and shaped to extend along an existing knee ligament on a first side of the knee joint; a transverse tensioning portion coupled to the longitudinal functional stabilization portion, wherein the transverse tensioning portion is sized and shaped to extend within a passage through bone from the first side to an opposite, second side of the knee joint, characterized in that the transverse tensioning portion is configured to be tensioned to a plurality of tensions; a first anchoring element being adjacent to the transverse tensioning portion at a first end of the elongate ligament tension element and configured for anchoring the elongate ligament tension element to the first bone, wherein the first anchoring element is configured to maintain the transverse tensioning portion at a selected tension of the plurality of tensions; and a second anchoring element being adjacent to the longitudinal ligament functional stabilization portion at an opposite, second end of the elongate ligament tension element and configured for anchoring the elongate ligament tension element to the second bone on the opposite, second side of the knee joint, wherein the elongate ligament tension element is configured to maintain the first prosthetic component and the second prosthetic component in a balanced configuration within the knee joint.