Short-Term Benefits of Robotic Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty Over Computer Navigated Total Knee Arthroplasty Are Not Sustained With No Difference in Postoperative Patient-Reported Outcome Measures
Gavin Clark, MBBS, FRACS (Ortho), FAOrthA,a,b,c,∗ Richard Steer, BSc, MHSc, MBBS, FRACS (Ortho), FAOrthA,a,b,d,e Bethany Tippett, BPhysio,b and David Wood, BSc, MBBS, MS Lond, FRCS, FRACS (Ortho), FAOrthAcKnee
Background
The purpose of this study was to compare early clinical and patient-reported outcomes between robotic assisted (RA) and computer navigation (CN) total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
Methods
One hundred and fifty patients were enrolled in this prospective, single-surgeon, cohort study, with 75 patients each receiving CN-TKA or RA-TKA in a consecutive series. There were no differences in patient age (P = .34) or body mass index (P = .09), but a higher proportion of males underwent RA-TKA (P = .03). We recorded hospital knee pain, analgesic usage, length of hospital stay, range of motion, and patient-reported outcome measures postoperatively for both patient cohorts.
Results
Hospital length of stay was shorter for the RA-TKA patients (P < .001). RA-TKA patients showed improved range of motion (P < .001) and decreased pain scores (P = .006) on day 1. Subsequent days showed no significant differences. Narcotic usage was lower for the RA-TKA group on day 2 postoperatively (P = .03) and onwards. Total morphine equivalent dose was also significantly lower for the RA-TKA than for the CN-TKA group (P < .001). There was no difference in Forgotten Joint Score (P = .24) or Oxford Knee Score (P = .51) between groups at 2 years postoperatively.
Conclusion
The use of RA-TKA demonstrated reduced postoperative analgesia usage and length of stay. There were no differences seen between CN-TKA and RA-TKA with respect to clinical outcomes at 2 years after surgery.
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