Navigation Did Not Improve the Precision of Minimally Invasive Knee Arthroplasty
Bonutti, Peter M., MD1; Dethmers, Daniel A., MD1; McGrath, Mike S., MD2; Ulrich, Slif D., MD2; Mont, Michael A., MD2,aKnee
Potential advantages of minimally invasive total knee arthroplasty (TKA) include decreased pain, faster recovery, and increased quadriceps muscle strength. Computer-assisted navigation has been associated with more accurate component alignment. We evaluated two groups of 50 patients who had minimally invasive TKAs performed with and without navigation by two surgeons. A comparison of 50 previous TKAs by each of the two surgeons showed similar results. The mean operative times for the navigation and nonnavigation groups were 112 minutes (range, 63-297 minutes) and 54 minutes (range, 35-86 minutes), respectively. The mean estimated blood losses, mean Knee Society pain as well as functional scores and mean component alignments were similar. The number of knees that deviated by more than 3° from the normal anatomic axis was three and one in the navigated and nonnavigated groups, respectively. Complication rates were 6% and 4% in the navigated and nonnavigated groups, respectively. Our data demonstrate no distinct advantage of navigation when combined with a minimally invasive approach.
Level of Evidence: Level II, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
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