EDITORIAL
Computer Navigation and Robotics in Orthopedic Surgery Vipool Goradia, MD and W. Dilworth Cannon, Jr., MD
W
e are pleased to introduce this issue, which focuses on the use of computer assistance during orthopedic surgical procedures. Successful outcomes after orthopedic surgical procedures are believed to be highly dependent on reproducible anatomic accuracy. Immediate intraoperative feedback helps surgeons to achieve this accuracy as has been demonstrated with the use of fluoroscopy. Non–image-based computer navigation has been used in joint arthroplasty, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, high tibial osteotomy, and cartilage procedures, along with applications in hip and shoulder arthroscopy. Most short-term studies have demonstrated superior accuracy when compared with conventional techniques. However, very few studies have shown better clinical outcomes. Robotic-assisted surgery has been most popular in unicompartmental arthroplasty, which again results in greater accuracy of surgical implantation but similar clinical outcomes when compared with conventional techniques. Economic analyses indicate that these high-cost technologies may only be cost-effective in high-volume centers. Other studies have shown that computer navigation improves the accuracy of lower-volume surgeons to a greater degree compared with higher-volume surgeons, allowing the former to have results similar to the latter. Computer navigation and robotic surgery warrant further research and development. This issue provides an overview of the current state of computer navigation in orthopedics in the United States and Europe.
On the Cover: Intraoperative registration. Note passive markers (arrows) on tibia, femur, and instrumentation. From: Koh J, Marcus MS. Computer-assisted anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction: The US perspective. Sports Med Arthrosc Rev. 2014;22:206–214.
Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Copyright r 2014 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Sports Med Arthrosc Rev
Volume 22, Number 4, December 2014
www.sportsmedarthro.com |
201
Computer Navigation and Robotics in Orthopedic Surgery Vipool Goradia, MD and W. Dilworth Cannon, Jr., MD
W
e are pleased to introduce this issue, which focuses on the use of computer assistance during orthopedic surgical procedures. Successful outcomes after orthopedic surgical procedures are believed to be highly dependent on reproducible anatomic accuracy. Immediate intraoperative feedback helps surgeons to achieve this accuracy as has been demonstrated with the use of fluoroscopy. Non–image-based computer navigation has been used in joint arthroplasty, anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, high tibial osteotomy, and cartilage procedures, along with applications in hip and shoulder arthroscopy. Most short-term studies have demonstrated superior accuracy when compared with conventional techniques. However, very few studies have shown better clinical outcomes. Robotic-assisted surgery has been most popular in unicompartmental arthroplasty, which again results in greater accuracy of surgical implantation but similar clinical outcomes when compared with conventional techniques. Economic analyses indicate that these high-cost technologies may only be cost-effective in high-volume centers. Other studies have shown that computer navigation improves the accuracy of lower-volume surgeons to a greater degree compared with higher-volume surgeons, allowing the former to have results similar to the latter. Computer navigation and robotic surgery warrant further research and development. This issue provides an overview of the current state of computer navigation in orthopedics in the United States and Europe.
On the Cover: Intraoperative registration. Note passive markers (arrows) on tibia, femur, and instrumentation. From: Koh J, Marcus MS. Computer-assisted anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction: The US perspective. Sports Med Arthrosc Rev. 2014;22:206–214.
Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Copyright r 2014 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Sports Med Arthrosc Rev
Volume 22, Number 4, December 2014
www.sportsmedarthro.com |
201
