Improved perioperative narcotic usage patterns in patients undergoing robotic-assisted compared to manual total hip arthroplasty

BACKGROUNDRobot-assisted total hip arthroplasty (RA-THA) improves accuracy in achieving the planned acetabular cup positioning compared to conventional manual THA (mTHA), but optimal dosage for peri-RA-THA and mTHA pain relief remains unclear. This study aimed to compare pain control with opioids between patients undergoing direct anterior approach THA with the use of a novel, fluoroscopic-assisted RA-THA system compared to opioid consumption associated with fluoroscopic-assisted, manual technique.METHODSRetrospective cohort analysis was performed on a consecutive series of patients who received mTHA and fluoroscopy-based RA-THA. The average amount of postoperative narcotics in morphine milligram equivalents (MME) given to each cohort was compared, including during the in-hospital and post-discharge periods. Analyses were performed on the overall cohort, as well as stratified by opioid-naïve and opioid-tolerant patients.RESULTSThe RA-THA cohort had significantly lower total postoperative narcotic use compared to the mTHA cohort (103.7 vs. 127.8 MME; P