Robotic knee surgery put to the test

RACER-Knee compared Mako-assisted and conventional total knee replacement across 10 hospitals in Great Britain.

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Robotic-arm–assisted total knee replacement did not show a clinically meaningful improvement in the Forgotten Joint Score at 12 months compared to conventional surgery.
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In the RACER-Knee trial, 339 patients were randomized to either robotic-assisted or conventional total knee replacement across 10 hospitals in the UK.
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Mean Forgotten Joint Scores were approximately 49 for the robotic group and 50 for the conventional group, with an adjusted difference favoring conventional surgery.
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Robotic assistance resulted in greater precision in alignment but increased mean operating time by 10.5 minutes and incurred higher costs.
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The study's findings are specific to the Mako system and may not apply to other robotic technologies, which require separate evaluation.

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