A recent technology added CAOS augmentation to conventional mechanical instruments, removing the need for significant instrument relearning. The system has been shown to have a minimal learning curve and offers good usability and has been demonstrated to be non-disruptive to the surgical flow during its early adoption, reported by a subjective survey of users.

Accurate positioning of the knee prosthesis is critical for the success of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). However, with mechanical (neutral) alignment surgical philosophy, only 70-80% of the conventional TKA cases can achieve satisfactory accuracy (within ±3° of varus/valgus relative to the mechanical axis).

Computer-assisted orthopaedic surgery (CAOS) has been shown to offer a clear advantage regarding surgical accuracy in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with a body of research studies demonstrating a significant reduction of alignment outliers compared to conventional TKA instrumentation. However, conflicted data exists in the literature for a consensus regarding the advantage of CAOS technology in clinical outcomes or satisfaction rates for the patient.

Computer-assisted orthopaedic surgery (CAOS) has been shown to offer improved accuracy to total knee arthroplasty (TKA) compared to conventional techniques.¹ Despite promising results, one of the drawbacks for surgeons to adopt CAOS technology may be the requirement of switching from conventional to CAOS-specific instruments.

As hospitals are facing mounting financial pressures in the current economic environment, time spent in the operating room has been identified as one of the most costly areas of hospital operations. As such, introduction of a new total knee arthroplasty (TKA) system to clinical care should demonstrate a minimum learning effort requirement.