Prospective, randomised controlled trial comparing robotic arm-assisted bi-unicompartmental knee arthroplasty to total knee arthroplasty.
OrthoEvidence Journal (OE Journal) - ACE Report
OE Journal. 2025;13(17):4 Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc . 2025 Jul;33(7):2571-2580.What this means for my practice?
Clinicians should remember that robotic arm–assisted bi‐UKA provides comparable safety and patient‐reported outcomes to conventional TKA at 2 years, with NKSS results favoring TKA due to alignment scoring. These findings suggest that bi‐UKA may be a safe alternative but does not yet demonstrate superior benefit. A limitation of the study is its small sample size and insufficient power to detect differences in most PROMs. Larger and longer trials are needed before broader clinical adoption.
Study Summary
Sixty patients with medial and lateral knee osteoarthritis were randomized to receive either robotic arm–assisted bi‐unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (bi‐UKA, n=27) or conventional total knee arthroplasty (TKA, n=33). The primary outcome was achievement of a biphasic sagittal knee moment pattern during gait. Secondary outcomes included Oxford Knee Score, New Knee Society Score (NKSS), Forgotten Joint Score, EQ-5D, pain and stiffness VAS, satisfaction, range of motion, and complications. Outcomes were assessed up to 2 years. Overall, the results revealed no significant differences between groups in biphasic gait, patient‐reported outcomes, or complication rates, although NKSS total and clinical subscores favored TKA. The study concludes that robotic bi‐UKA and TKA offer comparable short-term safety and clinical outcomes, but long-term follow-up is required to determine potential advantages of cruciate‐sparing bi‐UKA.
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