Return to Work and Driving After Robotic Arm-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty

Background: Robotic arm-assisted total knee arthroplasty (RATKA) has demonstrated improved patient-reported outcome measures. Less evidence has been reported on how frequently patients return to complex activities of daily living. Our purposes were to investigate (1) hospital lengths of stay (LOSs) (2) discharge dispositions and (3) the rates and postoperative time intervals at which patients returned to driving and working.

Methods: A total of 50 RATKA patients who were employed prior to surgery were included. Outcomes included hospital LOS, discharge dispositions, return to driving, and return to work.

Results: A total of 48 patients (96%) were discharged home with self-care or health aid discharge after a mean LOS of 1.2 ± 0.6 days. Twelve patients (24%) returned to driving within 3 weeks of surgery. In our study, 100% of patients who underwent RATKA returned to driving after a mean of 29 days (range, 4 to 62 days). Forty-five patients (90%) returned to their preoperative level of work after a mean of 46 days (range, 2 to 96 days). Nineteen patients (38%) returned to work within 3 weeks.

Conclusions: This study showed fast recovery after RATKA, with >90% returning to driving and working at full capacity within 2 months. Many (38%) returned to work within 3 weeks. Further studies to demonstrate the value of RATKA with respect to recovery of complex activities are needed. Compared to controls from previously published literature on manual total knee arthroplasties, it appears that patients who undergo RATKA have similar or better outcomes in reference to return to driving.