Clinical experience using a minimally invasive surgical approach for total knee arthroplasty: early results of a prospective randomized study compared to a standard approach.

There has been recent attention concerning minimally invasive techniques for knee arthroplasty. It is not clear whether these complicated techniques can be reproduced across multiple centers and for all surgeons. This prospective, randomized, multicenter study was carried out to assess safety and efficacy of a minimally invasive total knee arthroplasty. The study consisted of 80 knees. There were no differences in blood loss, operative time for completion of surgery, infection, and ultimate wound healing. There were 4 knees with delayed wound healing in the minimally invasive surgical technique group versus 1 in the standard group, which did not affect outcome. Early clinical and radiographic results were also indistinguishable. At 12 weeks follow-up, there was no difference in mean Knee Society objective and functional scores. In summary, in this study, minimal incision total knee arthroplasty demonstrated no improvement over a standard approach.