Robot-Assisted Knee Replacements: Better Results but Higher Costs, Study Finds

2024-05-10 23:46:00

FRIDAY, May 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Robot-assisted total knee replacements tend to have better results on average, a new study reports.

Unfortunately, there is a downside: The procedure can be much more expensive if a human surgeon is assisted by a surgical robot.

The patients who underwent robotic-assisted knee replacement stayed in hospital for almost half a day less, and were much less likely to develop complications such as infections, excessive blood loss, and fractures, dislocations or mechanical complications of their prosthesis, the report of the researchers.

But robotic knee replacement cost an average of $ 2,400 more than the traditional procedure, the researchers discovered.

The researchers said they hope the study will help doctors and patients make informed decisions about the best option for knee surgery.

“As the population continues to age, there will be greater demand for safe and effective total knee replacement surgery, also known as total knee arthroscopy (TKA),” lead researcher Dr. Senthil Sambandam, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

In knee replacement procedures, surgeons cut out bone damaged by arthritis and replace it with pieces of metal and plastic.

Surgeons perform most knee replacements by hand, judging how much bone is removed based on training and experience.

However, an increasing number of these procedures are performed with surgical robots that rely on imaging scans or anatomical landmarks to determine where to cut.

Using a robot theoretically improves accuracy and safety, but some studies have suggested that these improvements are minimal or non-existent.

To compare the two methods, the researchers compared the medical records of more than 540,000 people who had a traditional knee replacement with more than 17,000 who had a robot-assisted procedure. All operations were carried out between 2016 and 2019.

In this analysis, the cost of a robotic knee replacement was up to $15,000 higher than in previous comparative studies, the researchers noted.

The highest cost of the robotic procedure comes from acquiring the robotic equipment, which typically costs millions of dollars, as well as the disposable equipment needed for the operation, the researchers said.

But robotic-assisted knee replacement may be a more cost-effective option in hospitals that perform a large number of procedures, because fewer complications may offset the higher cost, Sambandam said.

The study found that:

88% lower risk of prosthesis dislocation.

68% lower risk of mechanical complications of prosthetics.

64% lower risk of pulmonary embolism.

63% lower risk of excessive bleeding requiring blood transfusion.

53% lower risk of pneumonia.

52% lower risk of deep vein thrombosis.

27% lower risk of anemia due to blood loss.

The new study appears in the journal Archives of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery.

more information

Johns Hopkins Medicine offers more information about knee replacement.

SOURCE: UT Southwestern Medical Center, news release, May 7, 2024