A joint replacement involves removing the arthritic portion of the knee or hip joint, and replacing these damaged areas of the joint with a combination of metal, ceramic and plastic to allow pain-free motion. While this has been the process used for decades, robotic and navigation surgery represents an emerging field that can help us perform more accurate surgery.

How is robotic- or navigation-assisted surgery different than traditional joint replacement surgery?

Traditional joint replacement surgery relies on anatomic landmarks that we use as surgeons to guide us to place the new implants to restore your normal joint. Navigation or robotic surgery involves using sensors attached to the bone during the joint replacement surgery to create a map of your knee or hip. This map is created from a special imaging study (CT scan) performed before surgery or from points identified during the surgery from your specific anatomy. I can then create a plan specific to your knee or hip to restore your anatomy. This has been shown to be more precise than relying on your anatomic landmarks, which can vary slightly from person-to-person and based on the specific arthritic degeneration of your joint.

How is robotic-assisted different than navigation-assisted surgery?

They are often used interchangeably, but there is a slight difference. Robotic-assisted typically provides some sort of tactile guidance or mechanical arm to assist with the actual bony remodeling during the surgery, whereas navigation-assisted helps us to plan our surgical cuts and remodeling more accurately than using the bony anatomic landmarks. Both of these provide specific technical benefits, and allow me as the surgeon to perform a more precise surgery.

How will this change my surgery?

Often you will have a small separate incision or two separate small incisions to allow for the sensors to be attached to the bone without interfering with your joint replacement. Your recovery will otherwise be exactly the same, without any additional limitations.

Is there one system that’s the best?

I have used many different navigation and robotic systems, and even provided expert consultation for some companies. While they all are slightly different, they work similarly with sensors to help map out your specific knee or hip, and improve the accuracy during surgery. There is not one system that is clearly the best, it comes down to the system that works best for your surgeon!

See below for two examples of robotic/navigation systems that exist for hip and knee