Prospective RCT of 100 patients randomized to robotic-assisted (ROBODOC) vs. conventional manual TKA, asking whether robotic assistance improves clinical outcomes, mechanical alignment, flexion-extension gap balance, and complication profile at intermediate-term follow-up (mean 65 months).
When counseling patients or evaluating robotic TKA platforms, recognize that robotic assistance reliably eliminates alignment outliers and improves gap balance — technical metrics that most literature links to implant longevity — but does not translate to better clinical scores at intermediate follow-up; the meaningful trade-off is a 25-minute increase in operative time with no added complication risk.
Prospective RCT of 100 patients randomized to robotic-assisted (ROBODOC) vs. conventional manual TKA, asking whether robotic assistance improves clinical outcomes, mechanical alignment, flexion-extension gap balance, and complication profile at intermediate-term follow-up (mean 65 months).
When counseling patients or evaluating robotic TKA platforms, recognize that robotic assistance reliably eliminates alignment outliers and improves gap balance — technical metrics that most literature links to implant longevity — but does not translate to better clinical scores at intermediate follow-up; the meaningful trade-off is a 25-minute increase in operative time with no added complication risk.