A Perspective on Robotic Assistance for Knee Arthroplasty

• Published in: Advances in Orthopedics Vol. 2013; no. 2013; pp. 225 - 233
• Main Authors: Netravali, Nathan A., Shen, Feimo, Park, Youngbae, Bargar, William L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Limiteds 01.01.2013; Hindawi Puplishing Corporation; Hindawi Publishing Corporation; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Joint replacement surgery; Joint surgery; Manufacturers; Navigation systems; Pain; Patient satisfaction; Review; Robotic surgery; Robotics; Surgical techniques; Transplants & implants; United States > US
• ISSN: 2090-3464; 2090-3472; 2090-3472
• DOI: 10.1155/2013/970703

Knee arthroplasty is used to treat patients with degenerative joint disease of the knee to reduce pain and restore the function of the joint. Although patient outcomes are generally quite good, there are still a number of patients that are dissatisfied with their procedures. Aside from implant design which has largely become standard, surgical technique is one of the main factors that determine clinical results. Therefore, a lot of effort has gone into improving surgical technique including the use of computer-aided surgery. The latest generation of orthopedic surgical tools involves the use of robotics to enhance the surgeons’ abilities to install implants more precisely and consistently. This review presents an evolution of robot-assisted surgical systems for knee replacement with an emphasis on the clinical results available in the literature. Ever since various robotic-assistance systems were developed and used clinically worldwide, studies have demonstrated that these systems are as safe as and more accurate than conventional methods of manual implantation. Robotic surgical assistance will likely result in improved surgical technique and improved clinical results.