Early clinical benefits of robot-assisted versus manual total knee arthroplasty: A randomized controlled trial.

Study Summary

68 patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis were randomized to receive robot-assisted total knee arthroplasty (rTKA) using the Robotic Surgical Assistant (ROSA) Knee System or conventional manual total knee arthroplasty (mTKA). The outcomes of interest was short-term clinical and functional recovery. Other outcomes included operative time, perioperative blood loss, hospital stay, knee range of motion (ROM), mechanical limb alignment, pain assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and health-related quality of life assessed using the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36). Outcomes were assessed up to 3 months postoperatively. Overall, the results of the study revealed that rTKA resulted in greater knee flexion, less perioperative blood loss, improved mechanical alignment, and lower postoperative pain scores compared with mTKA, although operative time was longer. Both groups experienced substantial functional improvements, with limited differences in patient-reported outcomes. These findings suggested that rTKA offered modest advantages in early recovery, although its long-term clinical benefits remained uncertain.