Minimally invasive surgery in total knee arthroplasty: the learning curve.

The purpose of this study is to quantitate the number of surgeries require to become proficient in minimally invasive surgery total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Operative duration is recorded for the first 100 patients having minimally invasive TKA by a single surgeon (J.H.L.). Learning is graphically represented by plotting time by patient number, generating logarithmic and linear curves that represent the rate of decrease in time (learning). The operative duration of the first block of 10 patients was significantly longer than that of the remaining 9 blocks. The learning curve for minimally invasive TKA approximates 10 patients, and decreases as surgical experience is gained.