MIS Value in THR, TKR Questioned (Orthopedics This Week)
Do the advantages of minimally invasive total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries outweigh the higher complication rates reported? That is the question that investigators asked in a study designed to determine whether minimally invasive surgery (MIS) enhances recovery after total hip or knee replacement. John M. Lloyd, FRCS, of Bournemouth, United Kingdom, presented the study findings at the 13th EFORT Congress in May 2012, in Berlin, Germany.
The investigators defined MIS surgery as incisions less than 10 cm in the hip and less than 14 cm in the knee. They then searched the literature using MEDLINE and PubMed databases, including case series, randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews, to determine the outcomes when MIS was used in THR or TKR.
They found that improvement in recovery with MIS for THR and TKR was multi-factorial and, when combined with improved anesthetic and rapid rehabilitation pathways, the procedures result in enhanced recovery, Lloyd said. However, he noted that only a small amount of data indicated that MIS alone made a significant difference.
If we look at length of ...
