Robotic Assisted Knee Replacement in Mumbai

What is Robotic-Assisted Knee Replacement?

Robotic-assisted knee replacement surgery is an alternative to the conventional knee replacement procedure. It is performed using robotic-arm technology that allows your surgeon to precisely perform the surgery through a smaller incision as compared to traditional surgery.

The Robot Dr. Bajwa Operates With - CUVIS Joint

Most surgeons who advertise robotic knee replacement are describing a robot that holds a guide while the surgeon still makes the cut by hand.

Dr. Bajwa uses the CUVIS Joint - an active, fully automated robotic system. Once the surgical plan is approved, the robot performs the bone resection itself, autonomously, under the surgeon's direct supervision and control. The plan is executed exactly as designed.

This is a meaningful difference, and it is worth understanding before choosing a surgeon.

How your surgery is planned:

• A CT scan of your leg, hip to ankle, is taken before surgery.
• A 3D model of your individual knee is built from that scan. Not an average knee. Yours.
• Dr. Bajwa plans implant size, position, rotation and every bone cut on that model before you enter the operating theatre.
• In theatre, the plan is verified against your live anatomy and adjusted if required.
• The robot then executes the approved plan.

What that precision is for:

• Implant alignment within a fraction of a degree of the plan
• Less soft tissue release - fewer healthy ligaments cut in order to balance the knee
• A more natural-feeling knee, because your own soft tissue envelope is preserved
• Reduced blood loss and more controlled bone cuts
• A knee balanced through its full range of movement, not only when straight

What is Arthritis?

The knee is made up of the femur (thighbone), the tibia (shinbone) and the patella (kneecap). The two menisci, the soft cartilage between the femur and tibia, serve as a cushion and helps absorb shock during motion. Arthritis (inflammation of the joints), injury or other diseases of the joint can damage this protective layer of cartilage, causing extreme pain and difficulty in performing daily activities. Osteoarthritis is a type of arthritis.

What is Total Knee Replacement?

Total knee replacement, also called total knee arthroplasty, is a surgical procedure in which the worn out or damaged surfaces of the knee joint are removed and replaced with artificial implants.

Thinking About Knee Replacement? Read This First.

Most people considering knee replacement have been putting it off. That is not weakness - it is sensible caution. But there is a cost to waiting too long, and it is worth knowing what it is.

You may be ready for surgery if:

• Pain wakes you at night, or is present at rest
• Painkillers, injections and physiotherapy no longer hold it
• You have stopped doing things you enjoy - walking, travel, stairs, playing with
• grandchildren
• Your knee has begun to bend inward or outward
• You are planning your day around your knee

You are probably not ready if:

• Your pain is intermittent and responds to physiotherapy and weight management
• Your X-rays show early or moderate arthritis
• You have not yet tried structured physiotherapy, activity modification or targeted injections

Dr. Bajwa will tell you if you do not need surgery. He offers non-surgical options, including Cooled Radiofrequency Ablation - which he is among the very few surgeons in Mumbai to perform - precisely so that patients who are not ready for a replacement are not given one.

The cost of waiting too long: severe deformity, contracture, muscle wasting, and strain on the other knee, hip and back from compensating. A knee replaced late still works. It simply takes longer to recover from.

The best time to have a knee replacement is when your knee has stopped letting you live your life - not a year before, and not three years after.

Indications of Robotic-Assisted Knee Replacement

Robotic-assisted knee replacement is indicated if you are suffering from degenerative knee diseases such as osteoarthritis. Your doctor may recommend surgery if non-surgical treatment options have failed to relieve your symptoms.

Robotic-Assisted Knee Replacement Procedure

The goal of total knee replacement surgery is to relieve pain and restore the alignment and function of your knee. Robotic-assisted knee replacement utilizes X-rays and CT scans to determine the damaged areas of the joint that need to be removed for the precise placement of the knee implant. The bone resections are then executed by the robotic system according to the pre-operative plan, without the mechanical cutting jigs used in conventional knee replacement. The femoral component is attached to the end of the femur with or without bone cement.

Your surgeon then cuts or shaves the damaged area of the tibia (shinbone) and the cartilage. This removes the deformed part of the bone and any bony growths, as well as creates a smooth surface on which the implants can be attached. Next, the tibial component is secured to the end of the bone with bone cement or screws.

Your surgeon will place a plastic piece between the implants to provide a smooth gliding surface for movement. This plastic insert will support the body’s weight and allow the femur to move over the tibia, like the original meniscus cartilage.

The femur and tibia with the new components are then put together to form the new knee joint.

To make sure the patella (kneecap) glides smoothly over the new artificial knee, its rear surface is also prepared to receive a plastic component. All these steps are performed with the help of the robotic arm.

With all the new components in place, the knee joint is tested through its range of motion. The entire joint is then irrigated and cleaned with a sterile solution. The incision is carefully closed; drains are inserted and a sterile dressing is placed over the incision.

Benefits of Robotic-Assisted Knee Replacement

The benefits of the robotic-assisted knee replacement include:

• Smaller incisions - less disruption to the tissues around the knee
• Rapid recovery - most patients stand and walk on the day of surgery
• Precise placement of the implant - the strongest and best-evidenced advantage of robotic assistance
• Reduced injury to adjacent tissues - including fewer ligament releases, documented in Dr. Bajwa's own published series of 100 robotic knee replacements
• Expected longer implant life - implant alignment is one of the factors most closely linked to how long a knee replacement lasts

Is Robotic Knee Replacement Actually Better? What the Research Says.

There is a great deal of marketing around robotic surgery. Here is what the published evidence supports, and what it does not.

What the evidence clearly shows. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in Annals of Medicine & Surgery, pooling 21 randomised controlled trials and 2,692 patients, found robotic-assisted knee replacement produced significantly fewer alignment outliers and less deviation from the target mechanical axis than conventional surgery. (Mostafa O, et al. Ann Med Surg. 2025;87(2):867–879.) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40110313/

In plain terms: the robot makes the surgeon's plan far more reproducible. Far fewer knees end up outside the intended target.

What the evidence does not yet show. The same analysis found short- to medium-term function scores were broadly comparable between robotic and conventional surgery in experienced hands. Long-term implant survival data is still being collected.

Dr. Bajwa's position is straightforward: precision is a means, not a marketing claim. Better alignment and less soft tissue release should translate into a better-feeling knee and a longer-lasting implant, and that is why he uses the technology. But he will tell you honestly that a robot does not replace surgical judgement.

Dr. Bajwa's Own Published Research on Robotic Knee Replacement

Dr. Bajwa does not only perform robotic knee replacement. He publishes on it in peer-reviewed international journals.

Minimized Soft Tissue Release in Robotic-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Retrospective Review of 100 Cases

Londhe SB, Bajwa S, Rudraraju RT, et al. Cureus. 2024;16(8):e68062.

Analysis of Robot-Specific Operative Time and Surgical Team Anxiety Level and Its Effect on Alignment During Robot-Assisted TKA

Londhe SB, Rudraraju RT, Shah RV, DeSouza C, Shetty V, Khan FS, Bajwa S. Journal of Robotic Surgery. 2024;18(1):86.

A prospective study of 40 patients addressing the commonest objection to robotic surgery - that it takes longer. Operative time and team stress fell rapidly with experience, while implant and limb alignment accuracy stayed consistent from the earliest cases onward.

A Comprehensive Comparative Study on Mid-Term Clinical and Functional Outcomes in Indian Patients Following Bilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty (March 2024)

Indian patients sit, squat and move differently from Western patients, and expect different things from a knee. Dr. Bajwa's research is grounded in that reality.

Recovery: How Quickly You Move Matters

The old model of knee replacement asked patients to rest. The modern model - Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, or ERAS - asks them to move, and move early.

Dr. Bajwa follows an ERAS protocol built on a simple principle: the knee that moves on day one recovers faster than the knee that waits.

Fewer ligaments cut. Less blood lost. Better pain control. Earlier walking. These are not separate benefits - they compound.

Risks, and What Robotic Surgery Will Not Do

Robotic knee replacement carries the same risks as conventional knee replacement: infection, blood clots, bleeding, stiffness, nerve or vessel injury, implant loosening over time, and persistent pain in a small number of patients. The overall risk profile is comparable to conventional surgery. Dr. Bajwa will discuss your individual risk at consultation.

And to be clear about what the technology does not do:

• It will not make you a candidate for surgery if you are not one.
• It will not compensate for an inexperienced surgeon.
• It will not remove the need for physiotherapy. Recovery is roughly half surgery, half
• rehabilitation.
• It will not give you a twenty-year-old's knee. It will give you a pain-free, functional,
• natural-feeling one.
• It is not right for every patient. Some knees are better served by conventional or partial knee replacement.

Dr. Bajwa will tell you which category you fall into at the first consultation.

Why Patients Travel to Dr. Bajwa

Volume matters in joint replacement. It is one of the few things in surgery where the evidence is unambiguous.

• 3,600+ hip and knee replacements performed
• 12+ years in orthopaedics
• 35+ peer-reviewed research publications
• Two advanced fellowships in Australia — SuperPATH hip replacement in Sydney
• under Dr. Sol Qurashi, and Direct Anterior Minimally Invasive Hip & Kinematic Knee
• Replacement at Sunshine Coast Orthopaedic Group, Queensland, under Dr. Daevyd Rodda
• Fellow, Australian Orthopaedic Association and Fellow, Australian Institute of Musculoskeletal Research
• All India Rank 30 in orthopaedic specialty training, with two further years at P. D. Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai
• Operates at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central and Miraroad, with dedicated joint replacement theatres and in-house robotic infrastructure

International patients. Dr. Bajwa regularly treats patients travelling to Mumbai from across India and overseas, and has been invited to operate abroad — most recently in Angola. He is consulted internationally on complex primary and revision joint replacement.

He also trains the surgeons who do this. Dr. Bajwa is faculty and a proctor in robotic knee replacement, training practising arthroplasty surgeons — including colleagues considerably senior to him - in robotic technique, pre-operative planning and soft tissue balancing.

When your surgeon is the one teaching the technique, you are not part of anyone's learning curve.

Real Patients. Real Knees. Real Life After Surgery.

Dr. Bajwa documents patient journeys publicly - not staged testimonials, but people returning to their actual lives.

On his Instagram and YouTube channel, trusted by thousands for evidence-based orthopaedic education, you will find patients back to running, cricket, skydiving, courtrooms, classrooms and full working days on their feet. Some are in their forties. Some are in their seventies.

View All Video Testimonials | Watch on YouTube | Follow on Instagram

Frequently Asked Questions

Is robotic knee replacement better than normal knee replacement?

Robotic assistance significantly improves the accuracy of implant alignment and reduces how much healthy ligament needs releasing. Whether that translates into a measurably better knee depends heavily on the surgeon's skill and your own anatomy, which is why Dr. Bajwa treats the robot as a precision instrument rather than a substitute for judgement.

Does the robot perform the surgery on its own?

No. Dr. Bajwa plans and controls the entire operation. The CUVIS Joint system executes the bone cuts he has planned and approved, under his direct supervision. The surgeon decides; the robot delivers.

Is the scar bigger or smaller?

Comparable to or smaller than conventional surgery. The more important difference is beneath the skin - how much muscle and ligament is disturbed.

When will I walk after surgery?

Most patients stand and take their first steps on the day of surgery.

How long will I be in hospital?

Typically 2–3 days.

When can I drive, travel and return to work?

Driving typically at 4–6 weeks, desk work at 4–6 weeks, travel usually from 6 weeks.

Can I sit cross-legged or squat after knee replacement?

Yes, many patients can sit cross-legged and even squat after knee replacement. It depends on your knee's flexibility before surgery and your rehabilitation. Don't force it early. With proper recovery and physiotherapy, many patients regain these movements safely.

Can both knees be replaced at the same time?

In selected, medically fit patients, yes. Dr. Bajwa has published mid-term outcome research specifically on bilateral knee replacement in Indian patients.

How long will the implant last?

Modern implants, well aligned and well balanced, are expected to function for twenty years or more in most patients. Alignment is one of the factors most closely linked to implant longevity, which is the clinical argument for robotic precision.

Is robotic knee replacement more expensive?

There is an additional cost for the robotic system and pre-operative CT planning.

Robotic vs. Traditional: Breaking Down Knee Replacement Surgery Cost in Mumbai

Is it covered by insurance?

Most major insurers and corporate policies cover knee replacement. Robotic assistance may be covered in part or charged separately depending on your policy. Our team will verify your coverage before surgery.

Knee Replacement Insurance Cover in India

Is there an age limit?

There is no fixed limit. Fitness for anaesthesia matters far more than age.

Should I have a partial or a total knee replacement?

Robotic Assisted Partial Knee Surgery

Partial vs Total Knee Replacement

If you would like to have additional information on knee treatments or would like to learn more about robotic-assisted knee replacement surgery, please contact Dr. Supreet Bajwa, serving the communities of Mumbai, Maharashtra.