Advancements in minimally invasive total knee arthroplasty

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been in development since the early 1970s. Insall and others established the principles of ligament balance and overall alignment for implant success. Repicci introduced the concept of minimally invasive surgery in the early 1990s using the unicondylar prosthesis. As the outcomes of minimally invasive surgeries continued to improve when using a unicondylar prosthesis, it was logical to attempt a minimally invasive TKA. The author and his team have performed 120 minimally invasive TKAs over the past 2 years. Early results show that a minimally invasive approach produces better early motion, less blood loss, less pain, and a shorter hospital stay than the standard TKA with no compromise in accuracy.