Robotic and conventional knee replacement surgeries lead to a similar degree of recovery and functionality in patients after a year or more, doctors said.
However, the corrections in robotic surgery are more precise, and it is also better for patients who have an existing implant, they said while comparing the two.
Of the two which will provide comfort and functionality for a longer duration like 15 or 20 years after a surgery is yet to be seen because robotic surgeries in its current avatar is less than a decade old, the doctors added.
A doctor said it is up to the patient to choose which option they prefer, or they may leave the decision to the doctor.
“We do about 1,500 joint replacement surgeries in a year, and about 40% of these are robotic surgeries. The short term results of robotic surgeries are excellent. Robotic surgeries allow millimetre-wise correction. Better alignment is possible with robotic surgeries,” said Vikash Kapoor, cluster director, orthopaedics, Manipal Hospital EM Bypass and Mukundapur.
Manipal Hospitals recently celebrated completion of 1,000 total knee-replacement surgeries in less than two years at the hospital. Kapoor led the team involved with the surgeries.
The patients are able to run, dance or take part in any other daily activity without any trouble, he said.
Kapoor said the outcomes of robotic surgeries are more predictable.
“Suppose a doctor is doing a surgery on a badly malaligned knee. Conventional surgeries are based on experience. Sometimes the result may be sub optimal, but people can still live with it for more than 10 or 12 years. A robotic surgery will allow more precise corrections of the joints. This is why the results of robotic surgeries are more predictable,” he said.
Sudipto Mukherjee, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Peerless Hospital, said robots are useful in achieving better “axis and alignment”, but it was difficult to say which one among conventional and robotic joint replacement surgeries was more effective.
The jury is still out on whether conventional surgeries or robotic surgeries achieve better results, he said. However, robots are important and have certain specific uses. “Robotic surgeries are better if the patient has a pre-existing implant. Robots are useful in getting better axis and alignment. The possibility of fat embolism is lesser in robotic surgeries,” said Mukherjee.
Fat embolism occurs when fat droplets enter the bloodstream and block circulation. It can also lead to stroke.
Robots also empower young surgeons to achieve a good accuracy, said Mukherjee.
“A young surgeon who has just obtained his degree will get the same degree of accuracy as an experienced surgeon in a robotic surgery. This kind of surgeries can actually bridge the demand-supply gap in joint replacement surgeries. If young surgeons can do the surgeries with great accuracy, the wait and the queue to get a surgery done by an experienced surgeon will come down,” said Mukherjee.
Kapoor said 50% of patients who underwent knee replacement surgeries under his supervision were between 58 and 66 years, about 40% were between 66 and 80 years, and the remaining 10% patients were in the 45 to 58 years age bracket.