(iv) Technology assisted unicornpartmental knee replacement: results and functional outcomes

摘要

This review article focuses on the use of technology to assist implantation of Unicondylar Knee Replacements (UKR) for medial osteoarthritis of the knee. We provide the reader with an overview of the current published articles in peer reviewed journals investigating computer navigation, robotic-assisted surgery, patient-specific implants and instrumentation.The literature on technology assisted UKR does show a trend towards less outliers and greater accuracy, in terms of implant positioningand restoration of mechanical axis. There is also a key role for technology to play in the training of future surgeons in technically demanding procedures such as UKR. However, long-term differences in patient outcome and implant survi-vorship have yet to be shown and further high quality studies are required with longer follow-up to demonstrate that any improvement in accuracy and consistency translates to improvements in actual patient outcomes.