Computer Assisted Navigation in Knee Arthroplasty

Computer assisted navigation was fi rst developed in neurosurgery to improve the accuracy and precision.This technology is particularly well suited to orthopedic surgery because bony structures and anatomic relationships remain stable between the time of image capture and surgical intervention.Computer assisted navigation was fi rst applied in orthopedic surgery for the insertion of pedicle screws.1) Th e fi rst published clinical case of computer assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) was performed in August 1997.2) Currently, there are several navigation tools including OrthoPilot (Aesculap AG & Co, Tuttlingen, Germany), Vector Vision (BrainLab, Heimstetten, Germany), and Knee Track Module (Stryker Howmedica Osteonics, Allendale, NJ, USA).A recent survey showed that 33.1% of surgeons use navigation for at least 50% of their TKAs and that 25% of surgeons use navigation for 75% or more of their TKAs.3) Limb alignment and soft tissue balancing are impor-Computer assisted surgery (CAS) was used to improve the positioning of implants during total knee arthroplasty (TKA).Most studies have reported that computer assisted navigation reduced the outliers of alignment and component malpositioning.However, additional sophisticated studies are necessary to determine if the improvement of alignment will improve long-term clinical resultsand increase the survival rate of the implant.Knowledge of CAS-TKA technology and understanding the advantages and limitations of navigation are crucial to the successful application of the CAS technique in TKA.In this article, we review the components of navigation, classifi cation of the system, surgical method, potential error, clinical results, advantages, and disadvantages.