Customised Jigs in Primary Total Knee Replacement

Patient-specific surgery employing customising jigs for bone resections is becoming increasingly popular for total knee replacement surgery. Theoretical advantages of this technology include, but are not limited to, more accurate limb alignment and reduced surgical time, blood loss and in-patient hospital stay. In turn, these may result in more cost savings when compared with standard techniques of performing knee replacement surgery. The literature published so far has primarily examined alignment data but has failed to consistently confirm the previously proposed benefits. It appears that longer-term data, focusing on patient function and implant survival, will be required before the clinical and cost utility of these guides can be determined. This article briefly outlines the manufacturing process and surgical technique of patient-specific jigs and presents the clinical evidence pertaining to key elements of this new technology.