Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery in Total Hip Arthroplasty

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Robotics in Medicine

Background:

• Complications after total hip arthroplasty (THA), including dislocation and loosening, are often linked to poor acetabular cup alignment.
• Conventional manual placement may not achieve optimal alignment, potentially leading to issues like incorrect leg length and offset.

Purpose of the Study:

• To prospectively evaluate the accuracy of robotic-arm assisted surgery in achieving pre-operative radiographic targets for acetabular cup placement in THA.
• To assess the proportion of acetabular cups placed outside the defined safe zone using this robotic technique.

Main Methods:

• Prospective review of 224 patients undergoing robotic-arm assisted THA.
• Pre-operative targets for cup inclination (40 degrees) and anteversion (15 degrees) were set.
• Post-operative radiographic analysis to compare achieved placement with targets and assess safe zone adherence.

Main Results:

• Robotic-arm assisted surgery achieved a mean post-operative inclination of 40 degrees and mean anteversion of 16 degrees.
• Ninety-nine percent of acetabular cups were placed within the pre-designated safe zone.
• Results were comparable to existing literature on robotic-assisted THA.

Conclusions:

• Robotic-arm assisted surgery demonstrates high accuracy in acetabular cup placement for THA, potentially exceeding conventional methods.
• This technique may help reduce post-operative complications such as aseptic loosening and dislocations.
• Further prospective studies are necessary to confirm long-term clinical outcomes.