The accelerometer-based navigation system demonstrated superior radiological outcomes in restoring mechanical alignment and component sagittal positioning in total knee arthroplasty

Background This study aimed to determine whether the accelerometer-based navigation (ABN) could improve the accuracy of restoring mechanical axis (MA), component positioning, and clinical outcomes compared to conventional (CON) total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods A total of 301 consecutive patients (ABN: 27, CON: 274) were included. A 1:4 propensity score matching (PSM) was performed between the two groups according to preoperative demographic and clinical parameters. The postoperative MA, femoral coronal angle (FCA), femoral sagittal angle (FSA), tibial coronal angle (TCA) and tibial sagittal angle (TSA) were compared. Absolute deviations of aforementioned angles were calculated as the absolute value of difference between the exact and ideal value and defined as norms if within 3 degrees, otherwise regarded as outliers. Additional clinical parameters, including the Knee Society knee and function scores (KSKS and KSFS) and range of motion (ROM), were assessed at final follow-up (FU) (mean FU was 21.88 and 21.56 months respectively for ABN and CON group). A secondary subgroup analysis and comparison on clinical outcomes were conducted between norms and outliers in different radiological parameters. Results A total of 98 patients/102 knees were analyzed after the PSM (ABN: 21 patients/24 knees, CON: 77 patients/78 knees). In the ABN group, the mean MA, FCA and TSA were significantly improved (p = 0.019, 0.006, < 0.001, respectively). Proportions of TKAs within a +/- 3 degrees deviation were significantly improved in all the postoperative radiological variables except for TCA (p = 0.003, 0.021, 0.042, 0.013, respectively for MA, FCA, FSA, and TSA). The absolute deviations of FSA and TSA were also significantly lower in the ABN group (p = 0.020, 0.048, respectively). No significant differences were found in either mean value, absolute deviation or outlier ratio of TCA between two groups. On clinical outcomes, there were no significant differences between two groups, although KSKS, KSFS and ROM (p < 0.01, respectively) dramatically improved compared to baseline. The subgroup analysis also demonstrated no statistical difference on clinical outcomes between the outliers and norms in varied radiological parameters. Conclusions The ABN could improve the accuracy and precision of mechanical alignment and component positioning without significant improvement of clinical outcomes. Further high quality studies with long term FU are warranted to comprehensively evaluate the value of the ABN.