A Prospective, Randomized Evaluation of Total Knee Arthroplasty Performed With Conventional and Customized Patient Instrumentation

Patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) has been developed for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with several potential advantages over traditional instrumentation (TI). Shortened surgical time, fewer surgical instruments, and improved alignment are some of these proposed advantages. We sought to examine these assertions.

52 patients (26 per group) were enrolled in a prospective, randomized trial comparing CT-based PSI with TI. No difference was seen in average patient age (68 years) or BMI (31) between groups (p=0.84 and p=0.89), although there were more males in the PSI group (14 vs 7, p=0.002). A single surgeon and consistent staff performed the surgeries with the same knee prostheses, and all cases were videotaped to measure the length of surgery and each individual step. Any additional bone cuts, size changes, or ligament releases made to achieve correct alignment and balance were documented. The number of instrument trays opened for each case was recorded. Postoperative long alignment and lateral radiographs were taken to measure the coronal and sagittal plane component alignment and mechanical axis in each patient.