title: Computer assistance in total knee replacement - a critical assessment of current health care technology.
abstract: The last five years have seen the rapid development of computer assisted surgery (CAS) in total knee replacement (TKR). Many surgeons perform TKR using navigation systems, which offer user-friendly workflows and reproducible results. A number of level 1 and 2 studies, according to evidence-based medicine criteria, have demonstrated that navigation in TKR allows a more precise implantation of the prosthesis, though CAS still requires an experienced surgeon and is time consuming. Nevertheless, 30% of surgeons in Germany who perform TKR have used navigation. It is still not known whether this new technique improves the longevity of TKR, however, and we therefore performed a meta-analysis to assess the results of this new health care technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Regensburg, Germany. c_luering@yahoo.de
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lüring
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bäthis
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tingart
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Perlick
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grifka
mesh_terms: D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted