Robotic knee surgery shown to be a pointless marketing sham!

“Does Robotic-assisted TKA Result in Better Outcome Scores or Long-Term Survivorship Than Conventional TKA? A Randomized, Controlled Trial.”
Young-Hoo et al.
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research Feb 2020; 478(2): 266-275

Researchers from South Korea have published a Level 1 (the highest possible quality) study with long-term (10-year!) outcomes investigating the use of robotics for knee replacement surgery. In this study about 700 knee replacement procedures performed robotically were compared to about 700 ‘routine’ knee replacements, with patients being followed up prospectively and with clinical and radiological outcomes being evaluated.

The authors found no differences between robotic-assisted knee replacement and conventional knee replacement surgery in terms of functional outcome scores, aseptic loosening, overall survivorship and complications. The authors conclude that “Considering the additional time and expense associated with robotic-assisted TKA, we cannot recommend its widespread use.”

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