Comparison of two minimally invasive implantation instrument-sets for total knee arthroplasty.

摘要

I read with great interest the article from Martin et al. entitled "Comparison of two minimally invasive implantation instrument-sets for total knee arthroplasty" recently published in this journal. I would like to congratulate the authors on elucidating the reduced implantation accuracy after MIS-TKA using side-cutting instrumentation (MIS Quad-Sparing instrumentation, Zimmer, Warsaw) in a prospective randomized trial with sufficient statistical power. I found the data convincing, but I would like to mention three concerns. First, three different surgeons participated in this study, but the difference in implantation accuracy among them was not analyzed. Although the three surgeons were equivalently allocated to the groups with and without side-cutting jigs, the surgeon might still be considered a factor affecting radiographic results. In fact, numerous variables besides usage of side-cutting jigs or navigation systems might influence postoperative implant accuracy.