Total Knee Replacement (Robotic)

Total knee replacement (TKR) is one of the most successful elective surgical procedures performed in modern medicine, delivering dramatic pain relief and functional restoration to patients with end-stage knee arthritis. Robotic-arm assisted TKR using the Mako SmartRobotics system represents the most advanced evolution of this procedure, enabling surgeons to plan and execute implant positioning with sub-millimetre accuracy that is simply not achievable freehand.

Pre-operatively, a CT scan of the patient's knee is used to create a three-dimensional virtual model of their unique anatomy, upon which the surgeon plans precise implant size, position, and alignment. During surgery, the robotic arm provides haptic resistance that prevents the cutting instrument from straying outside the pre-planned resection boundaries, ensuring every bone cut is made exactly as planned regardless of patient movement or intraoperative variability. This precision translates into superior implant alignment, more natural knee kinematics, reduced implant wear, and potentially longer implant longevity.

At SilverOak Health, robotic TKR is performed within an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathway that combines preoperative education and optimisation, spinal anaesthesia, multimodal analgesia minimising opioid requirements, and early mobilisation on the day of surgery. Most patients are walking with physiotherapy support within hours of their procedure and are discharged within two to three days. Our physiotherapy team provides structured post-operative rehabilitation at both inpatient and outpatient stages, supporting full functional recovery within six to twelve weeks for most patients.