Accuracy of tibial component placement in unicompartmental knee arthroplasty performed using an accelerometer-based portable navigation system

Purpose There is a need for new devices to improve the accuracy of implantation in unicompartmental knee arthroplasties (UKAs). The accelerometer-based portable navigation system is expected to improve this accuracy. This study aimed to compare the accuracy of UKAs performed by the portable navigation system with that of the conventional method, and to investigate whether the portable navigation system can complement the surgeon’s experience. Methods The study comprised of 80 Oxford UKAs. Knees were divided into two groups based on the method of tibial osteotomy: the conventional group (37 UKAs performed by an experienced surgeon using the extra-medullary guide) and the portable navigation group (43 UKAs performed by 2 unaccustomed surgeons using the navigation system). The absolute error from the target angle on the coronal and sagittal plane was measured on whole lower leg X-ray. The incidence of outliers (> 3°) was compared between the groups using Fisher’s exact probability test. Results The incidences of outliers on the coronal plane were 41.0% (15 of 37 knees) in the conventional group and 9.3% (4 of 43 knees) in the portable navigation group ( p