Perioperative differences in conventional and computer-assisted surgery in bilateral total knee arthroplasty

Performing bilateral total knee arthroplasties (bTKAs), sequential or staged, is a topic of debate among surgeons. To our knowledge, no studies have compared computer-assisted surgery (CAS) and conventional (CON) procedures for sequential bTKAs. We retrospectively reviewed 124 (62 CAS, 62 CON) sequential bTKAs. CAS-bTKAs required significantly fewer blood transfusions (P = .001) and had significantly better postoperative day 1 (POD-1) hemoglobin (Hgb) levels (P = .001) and POD-2 Hgb levels (P = .01). Mean total blood transfusion units were 0.9 for the CAS group and 1.7 for the CON group. Postoperative range of motion, tourniquet time, length of stay, number of readmissions, and number of reoperations were not significantly different (P > .05). The statistically significant differences between the groups may have resulted from violation of the femoral intramedullary canal during the CON technique.