RACER-KNEE Trial Results
RACER-Knee Study Quick Summary
What is the RACER-Knee study?
>> RACER-Knee was a study of people who were having a knee replacement for arthritis.
>> 339 people took part across 10 NHS hospitals
>> People either had surgery using normal surgical instruments, or had surgery assisted by a robotic system called Mako system (made by Stryker)
>> People filled in questionnaires and had scans afterwards. These results are up to one year after surgery.
What did we find out?
>> Overall, one year after their operation, people who had a knee replacement had less pain and less disability than they had before.
>> The robotic system was as good as standard instruments over the first year after surgery. It did not give any added benefits for pain, movement or how aware people were of their knee joint during activities.
>> The robot was more precise on x-rays but this did not change people鈥檚 outcomes. It was as safe as surgery with normal instruments.
>> Surgery using a robotic system was more expensive and did not provide value for money.
>> We are continuing to do research on how to improve results for people having knee replacements, including people in the study who we are continuing to follow up for 10 years
Final words
>> We are very grateful for everyone who took part in the study, and for their ongoing help both now and into the future.
>> This study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and some of the costs were paid for by the manufacturer of the robotic system and knee replacements used, Stryker (USA).
For more details, feel free to read our paper, which can be read for free at The Lancet鈥檚 website, at:
Or we have prepared a more detailed summary which you can read here.
