66 patients were randomly assigned to undergo either minimally invasive total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or conventional TKA. The purpose of this study was to objectively investigate functional recovery after TKA using dynamometry to measure quadriceps force recovery. Patients were followed for 1 year postoperatively. At 6 weeks postoperatively, patients who had undergone minimally invasive TKA displayed greater mean quadriceps force than patients who underwent conventional TKA, although there were no significant differences in knee range of motion or clinical scores throughout the follow-up period.