Does high body mass index affect short-term clinical and radiologic outcomes in robotic-assisted total knee arthroplasty?

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether high BMI affect short-term clinical and radiologic outcomes of robotic-assisted total knee arthroplasty (TKA) by comparing the clinical outcomes, radiologic outcomes and complications between high BMI and normal patients.

Methods: We retrospectively compared the short-term clinical and radiological outcomes of 424 knees (408 patients). The patients were divided into four groups: BMI < 24.9 kg/m2 (normal); BMI between 25.0 and 29.9 kg/m2 (overweight); BMI between 30.0 and 34.9 kg/m2 (obese class I) and BMI between 35.0 and 39.9 kg/m2 (obese class II). Clinical and radiologic outcomes were evaluated.

Results: There was no significant difference in radiologic outcomes between those groups (p > .05). Furthermore, there was no significant difference in operation time, drainage volume, fall in hemoglobin, post-operative CRP and complications, including periprosthetic fracture and periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), between those groups.

Conclusions: High BMI does not affect short-term clinical and radiologic outcomes in robot-assisted TKA.