A number of studies have reported a significant improvement of the postoperative alignment, when computer-navigated total knee arthroplasty (TKA) was compared with conventional techniques. However, no studies are available on the functional and patient-relevant outcomes after computer-assisted knee replacement. In a prospective, randomized trial comparing 27 computer-assisted TKAs with 25 conventional implantations, the Knee Society Score was used to assess functional status, and the WOMAC questionnaire was used to record the disease-specific, patient-relevant outcome. At a twelve-month follow-up no significant difference was detected between the two patient groups in either the scores or the number of complications and range of postoperative knee flexion. The results are in agreement with those reported in other studies on the effect of conventional TKA. With the patient group of this size it can be concluded that computer-navigated TKA gives short-term resuits comparable with those achieved by conventional methods of implantation.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery RKU University of Ulm Ulm Germany