{"id":577912,"date":"2024-02-18T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/?p=577912"},"modified":"2024-02-16T16:46:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T21:46:09","slug":"surgical-robots-dont-improve-knee-surgery-revision-rates-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/surgical-robots-dont-improve-knee-surgery-revision-rates-study-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgical robots don’t improve knee surgery revision rates, study says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Knee

Knee replacement expectations for surgical robots may be misaligned, says study. Source: Adobe Stock<\/p><\/div>\n

Robotically assisted total knee arthroplasty, or TKA, has skyrocketed in popularity, but a new analysis of registry data has raised some questions about the benefits of surgical robots for knee-replacement patients.<\/p>\n

The analysis of American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) data, presented this week at AAOS 2024<\/a> in San Francisco, found that revision rates were similar in conventional and surgical robot cementless TKA at two years post-operatively. The study also found that the odds of revision due to infection or mechanical loosening were not significantly different between the two methods.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of single-surgeon studies show there is improved precision with robotic-assisted TKA,\u201d said Dr. Lucas E. Nikkel, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in a release<\/a> about the study. \u201cSome studies suggest there may be improved early recovery or less damage to soft tissue.”<\/p>\n

“One of the challenges with evaluating this is that many previous studies had significant financial conflicts of interest with the authors,” he noted. “We wanted to evaluate these questions using a registry study to eliminate the potential confounding factors to understand if there is a difference when this technology is applied to a surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Study casts doubt on a growing market<\/h2>\n

Studying the results of robotic knee procedures matters because the field is becoming a big business. Orthopedics device giant Stryker<\/a> has been grabbing market share amid the rising popularity of its Mako robots.<\/p>\n

Stryker ended 2023 with 60% of its knee-replacement procedures and 34% of its hip replacements in the U.S. performed using the surgical robot. The percentages were 40% of knees and nearly 20% of hips worldwide.<\/p>\n

In recent years, competitors<\/a> including Johnson & Johnson\u2019s DePuy Synthes business, Zimmer Biomet<\/a>, and Smith+Nephew have entered the market with their own surgical robotics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"SITELearn from Agility Robotics, Amazon, Disney, Teradyne and many more.<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Surgical robot study methodology has limitations<\/h2>\n

The researchers acknowledged some limitations to the new knee surgery study. National registries such as AJRR rely on the accuracy of data submitted. About 60% of the TKAs on the AJRR register did not report whether or not robotic assistance was used.<\/p>\n

In addition, the study did not include younger patients.<\/p>\n

The new study identified 9,220 cementless TKAs, nearly half of which were performed with surgical robots. The results \u2014 which used a multivariable, mixed-effects logistic regression model with controlling for co-founders \u2014 included:<\/p>\n