What question did this study set out to answer?

This research compares the early clinical efficacy and radiological alignment between robotic-assisted and conventional knee surgeries.

April 16, 2026Scientific Reports0 citationsOpen Access

NATON robotic-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty achieves superior radiological alignment and comparable one-year functional outcomes to conventional surgery

YLYuan LiSuizhou Central Hospital 吴吴菊Suizhou Central Hospital KHKe HeSuizhou Central Hospital

Key Points

This research compares the early clinical efficacy and radiological alignment between robotic-assisted and conventional knee surgeries.
Matched cohort study comparing 40 patients per group: RA-UKA and C-UKA.
Primary outcomes included operative time, blood loss, and various patient-reported outcomes.
Radiological assessments focused on angular deviations of femoral and tibial components and the HKA angle.
RA-UKA group had longer operative times compared to C-UKA.
No significant differences in most clinical outcome metrics between groups.
RA-UKA achieved significantly better subjective PROMs with lower pain (VAS) and higher FJS scores.
RA-UKA displayed better radiological alignment for femoral components.

Abstract

To compare the early clinical efficacy and postoperative implant alignment between NATON robotic-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (RA-UKA) and conventional UKA (C-UKA) in treating severe medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA). This retrospective matched cohort study included 40 RA-UKA and 40 C-UKA patients, matched 1:1 by age, gender, and surgical site et al. Primary outcomes included operative time, intraoperative blood loss, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs): knee society score (KSS), Oxford knee score (OKS), visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, and forgotten joint score (FJS). Radiological assessments included coronal/sagittal angular deviations of femoral/tibial components, hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle, and Kennedy zone distribution. The follow-up time was 15.4 ± 1.6 months. Operative time was significantly longer in the RA-UKA group (95.8 ± 6.8 min vs. 75.3 ± 6.5 min, P 0.05). RA-UKA achieved significantly better subjective PROMs, with lower VAS score (1.97 vs. 2.5, P = 0.012, Cohen’s d = − 0.60) and higher FJS score (86.9 vs. 84.3, P = 0.025, Cohen’s d = 0.50). The RA-UKA group had smaller femoral component coronal alignment deviation (2.39 ± 1.41° vs. 5.79 ± 1.15°, P 0.05). Correlation analysis revealed weak negative correlations between FJS score and femoral coronal/flexion deviations (all P < 0.05). VAS score was weakly positive correlated with PTS deviation (ρ = 0.240, P = 0.032) and moderately positive correlated with femoral coronal deviation (r = 0.311, P = 0.005). No serious complications occurred in either group during follow-up. The NATON RA-UKA achieved more accurate early implant positioning than C-UKA, while short-term clinical outcomes were generally comparable between groups.

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