Technology assistance in primary total knee replacement: hype or hope?

In general technology assistance results in higher accuracy of component positioning and alignment, but this is likely not clinically relevant as no clinically important difference in clinical outcomes, quality of life and complications such as revisions has been demonstrated in meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials. As technology assistance in primary TKR is increasingly used to capture patient and surgeon data, surgeons have an increasingly important role in protecting their patients' data and their own data. Real world evidence of implant registries has shown that TKR without technologically assistance can achieve perfectly acceptable outcomes. Although there is a genuine hope that technology assisted TKR may further improve these outcomes, this hope is based on promises rather than solid evidence. At the same time technology assisted TKR is heavily promoted including direct patient marketing which are aspects of a hype.