Robotic Knee Replacement Surgery

The knee is considered one of the largest and strongest joints in the body that is not only involved in the simplest body movement from walking to complex ones – swimming, etc but also plays important role in body-weight management and the balancing act. Restoring these body movements and other functionalities following complete knee replacement surgery is the biggest challenge for any orthopaedic surgeon. But robotic or computer-assisted total knee replacement supplements the orthopaedician’s efforts and experience in achieving this goal. 

Robotic knee replacement surgery is a surgical procedure that is well-assisted with state-of-the-art technology – Robotic Arm exhibiting greater accuracy/precision in removing the damaged knee tissue and replacing it with a new implantable artificial knee joint. Some of the difficult tasks like the positioning of the implant, surgical bone cutting, etc are carried out with precision; and integrated with software for real-time evaluation like haptic feedback, bone movement monitor, etc. which helps in predictive surgical outcome and recovery time. Some of the important features of robotic knee replacement surgery are –

• A specialized CT scan image converted into a 3D image model of the knee joint & surrounding area to plan step-by-step surgery plan – bone cutting, positioning of implant, limb alignment, coverage of bone, and real-time check of fixation.
• Registration process where the fed data is verified with real-time data before initiating the surgery by the robotic arm. The checkpoints are marked to implement the pre-surgery plan in toto.
• Real-time imaging and checking systems help in the implementation of the pre-surgery plan without any deviation and precision without much tissue damage.

Robotic knee replacement surgery is similar to the conventional method under anaesthesia but completely assisted by the robotic arm in executing the surgery plan with accuracy –

• The patient is stabilized for the surgery
• The incision is done on the surgery site
• Surgeon directs the robotic arm for the removal of the damaged bone and surrounding tissue, and bone preparation for the implant fixation.
• The alignment of the implanted knee is checked with leg movement.
• Closure of the incision site with suture

Benefits of the robotic knee replacement surgery

• Customized surgical approach depending upon the patient’s knee joint anatomy and clinical condition
• Implementation of the pre-surgery plan with sub-millimetre dimensional accuracy
• Real-time monitoring system contributing to the accuracy of planned surgical steps – bone cutting, implant fixation, implant alignment, etc.
• Less blood loss and surrounding tissue damage resulting in faster recovery and rehabilitation
• Long-term functionality enhancing the quality of life