ArticleAdvances in orthopedics2026
Thermal Effects of Burr and Saw Cutting Tools in Total Knee Arthroplasty.
Article in Advances in orthopedics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Thermal Effects of Burr and Saw Cutting Tools in Total Knee Arthroplasty.Advances in orthopedics · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Aims: Aseptic loosening after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can follow thermal bone injury produced by power tools. This study compared the intraoperative bone temperatures generated by rotary burrs used in robotic-assisted TKA (rTKA) with those from oscillating saws used in conventional TKA (cTKA). Methods: A single-centre observational trial employed infrared thermography (30 Hz, ±0.05°C) to record surface temperatures during the distal femoral cut in 14 primary TKAs (rTKA = 6, cTKA = 8). Burr cuts used a 6-mm spherical burr at 80,000 rpm; saw cuts used Stryker sagittal blades. Peak and mean temperatures and the time spent above 47°C, 56°C and 70°C were extracted from the recordings and compared with Mann-Whitney tests. Results: All procedures exceeded the osteonecrosis threshold (47°C); maximal temperatures surpassed 90°C in every burr case and in 5/8 saw cases. Median cutting time was 241 s with the burr versus 26 s with the saw ( Conclusion: Rotary burrs and oscillating saws both generate potentially harmful heat during TKA, but burrs markedly prolong exposure to cytotoxic temperatures and lengthen operative time. These findings suggest a higher theoretical risk of thermally mediated bone injury and subsequent implant loosening when burrs are used without active cooling. Larger controlled studies should assess mitigation strategies such as irrigation, cooled instrumentation or modified cutting protocols.
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Registered trials
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