Comparison of Custom and Standard Total Knee Replacements

Plain-language summary

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the most common surgery in North America and the second most common in Europe. One of the most critical issues for stability and durability of the interventional is the prosthesis-bone geometric fit, where a required a perfect match; the recent availability of custom 3D implants can overcome this problem. In order to further improve a TKA surgery, it is in fact, it is possible today to completely customize the procedure for each individual patient, with cost and time now accessible. This intervention can be performed with the use of instrumentation specific to the patient (so-called resin 'cutting templates' referred to as PSI, "Patient Specific Instrumentation") to make cuts accurate bone cuts in accordance with a specific 3D preoperative plan . Also the design and fabrication in of the components prosthetic components themselves, in metal and polyethylene, is done by means of 3D printing. Based on the unique anatomy of each patient, the precise sagittal orientation and axial rotation of the components of the prosthesis customized for the surgeon, it is possible to plan and perform the surgery quickly and in accordance with the exact specifications of the individual patient. These procedures should also make it possible to greatly reduce the instrumentation and the sizes that need to be available in the operating room, reducing time and costs associated with transportation and storage . The objective of this study is to compare primary TKAs performed with a customized procedure (prostheses customized for each patient based on his or her reconstructed knee morphology by tomographic scans, and implanted via cutting guides customized for the patient) with standard primary TKAs, considering: the objective radiological results, the subjective results of the patients and the costs of both procedures.

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