Robotic Total Knee Replacement

Robotic Total Knee Replacement is a system where the knee replacement can be pre-planned on images obtained from a CT scan of the full length of the leg before surgery. The planned knee replacement can then be performed by cutting the bone to place the implants at the planned position. The idea is to improve accuracy of placement and reproducible results as seen on X-rays. (X-ray results don’t always correlate with how the patient feels)

The patient related outcome (what the patient feels) is dependent on the planning done by an experienced surgeon, and if adjustments need to be made to achieve better balance in the knee, it should be recognised during surgery. These minor adjustments will be required to get a comfortable knee with a more natural feel as mentioned before in the section on knee replacement.

Robotic surgery is available at Constantiaberg Mediclinic and I do perform these procedures. Some of the medical aid companies do not fund robotic surgery and this will be confirmed before the surgery is booked. There is the option of the patient making a co-payment to enable robotic surgery to be performed.

All robotic knee replacement systems are not the same.