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Better alignment seen in robotic-assisted vs. conventional TKA
Song EK. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2011; Feb 11. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1007/s00167-011-1400-9.
A level 1 study investigating simultaneous bilateral total knee arthroplasty, with patients having a conventional procedure in one knee and robotic-assisted surgery in another, showed significantly more leg alignment outliers on radiographs in knees that underwent conventional arthroplasty.
Researchers from Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital in Korea prospectively studied 30 patients who underwent sequential total knee arthroplasty (TKA). One knee of each patient was randomly chosen to receive TKA using a conventional technique, and the other underwent robotic-assisted TKA.
In addition to finding better alignment in the robotic-assisted TKA group, the researchers discovered significantly less postoperative bleeding in the cohort. A comparison of the conventional and robotic-assisted groups also revealed superior range of motion, better clinical knee scores and longer surgical time in the robotic-assisted group.
“The better alignment accuracy of robotic TKA and the good clinical results achieved may favorably influence clinical and radiological outcomes,” the authors wrote in their abstract.