Functional and radiological outcome after total knee replacement performed with mini-midvastus or conventional arthrotomy: controlled randomised trial

The results of minimally invasive techniques used for total knee replacement are controversial. Despite reported advantages such as faster recovery, there are some concerns regarding component positioning. We compared mini-midvastus versus medial parapatellar arthrotomy with respect to component position and functional results. We included 70 osteoarthritis total knee replacement patients in our study. Patients were randomised for the approach. We recorded Knee Society scores before and after the surgery and radiological component position. Patients were followed up to 12 weeks after the surgery. We found that the mini-midvastus approach was associated with better Knee Society scores six weeks after surgery; after 12 weeks the difference was not statistically significant. We found no difference related to the approach in radiological component position. The mini-midvastus approach is associated with faster recovery and reproduces the same accuracy in component positioning as the medial parapatellar approach.