Robotic-assistance did not reduce complications in total hip arthroplasty

Robotic-assisted total hip arthroplasty (rTHA) is an increasingly common method of joint arthroplasty used to improve surgical accuracy and reduce human error. Despite not having compelling clinical data on long-term complications or outcomes to justify additional time costs, its rate of use is increasing. In this study we compare the longitudinal rates of complications between patients undergoing conventional total hip arthroplasty (cTHA) and rTHA.

Data from the TriNetX Research Network identified subjects with at least 5 years of patient follow up data through electronic health records. The first cohort were patients undergoing cTHA, and the second cohort included patients undergoing rTHA. Propensity score matching of known factors that can affect clinical outcomes at 1:1 ratio was performed to reduce confounding variables. Records with conditions unrelated to primary THA such as pathological fracture or revision arthroplasty were excluded. Rates of complication in five outcomes were observed at 1, 3 and 5 years: prosthetic joint infection, dislocation, revision, loosening, and periprosthetic fracture.

The database contained 95,085 THA patients. Analysis was performed with 2241 patients in each matched cohort. At 5 years, there was no difference in all-cause complications between the cTHA cohort and rTHA cohort [OR (95 % CI), 1.073 (0.772-1.491)]. Also, no differences were noted in rates of revision [OR (95 % CI), 1.1.604(0.726, 3.543)] or dislocation [OR (95 % CI), 1.775(0.976, 3.228)].

Despite evidence for improved surgical accuracy and reduced errors, robotic assistance did not reduce the rate of complications over a 5-year period after total hip arthroplasty.