|
St. Luke's Medical Center First in Arizona to Perform Innovative Robotic Arm Guided Knee Surgery
Minimally invasive procedure to treat early- to mid-stage osteoarthritis provides new treatment option for active people.
October 20, 2010
St. Luke’s Medical Center announced today that it is the first hospital in Arizona to perform MAKOplasty®, a new, minimally invasive partial knee resurfacing procedure used to treat early- to mid-stage osteoarthritis of the knee. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 15 million people suffer with osteoarthritis of the knee – a painful condition often resulting in a compromised quality of life.
Powered by the RIO® Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic system, MAKOplasty offers a more precise and consistent result for partial knee resurfacing. Patients may experience a shorter hospital stay, quicker recovery and a smaller incision as compared to total knee replacement. In addition, many return to an active lifestyle within weeks of the procedure.
“MAKOplasty allows us to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis at earlier stages and with greater precision. Because it is less invasive and more of the patient’s natural knee remains, the goal is for patients to have more natural knee motion and return to their normal activities more quickly,” said Jimmy Chow, M.D., a member of the medical staff at St. Luke’s Medical Center, and the first orthopedic surgeon in Arizona to perform the procedure.
The opportunity for early intervention is important because osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and a leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
An avid surfer and a manager on a cruise ship, Charles Lakin, 54, suffered from osteoarthritis, but was told he was too young for a total knee replacement. “I was limping and in a lot of pain – it would wake me up in the middle of the night. It reached a point where I could no longer do my job.”
Lakin sought treatment options, eventually traveling to Arizona to meet Dr. Chow who explained the partial knee resurfacing procedure. “He made sure I understood the pros and cons of all the options. After the surgery, I was up and walking the same day and am now doing everything I used to do. I even got on a surfboard again.”
Through its innovative use of robotic arm technology, MAKOplasty takes partial knee resurfacing to a new level of precision. When performing MAKOplasty, surgeons at St. Luke’s Medical Center utilize the RIO® Robotic Arm Interactive Orthopedic system, which features a tactile robotic arm and a 3-D virtual patient specific visualization system.
This system provides the surgeon a presurgical plan that details the technique for bone preparation and customized implant positioning using a CT scan of the patient’s knee. During the procedure, the system creates a 3-D live-action, virtual view of the patient’s bone surface and correlates the image to the pre-programmed surgical plan. As the surgeon uses the robotic arm, its tactile, acoustic and visual feedback limits the bone preparation to the diseased areas and provides for more optimal implant positioning and placement for each individual patient.
“Precision is key in planning and performing partial knee surgeries,” said Dr. Chow. “For a good outcome you need to align and position the implants just right. Precision in surgery, and in the pre-operative planning process, is what the robotic arm can deliver.”
For more information or to register for a free educational seminar, visit stlukesmedcenter.com or call 1-877-351-WELL (9355).
About Jimmy Chow, M.D. (www.chowhipandknee.com)
Dr. Chow is a physician with AZ Center for Bone & Joint Disorders, which is a Physician Group of Arizona, Inc., practice. Dr. Chow has advanced training in both total joint replacement surgery and arthroscopic surgery. He was formally trained at the New England Baptist Hospital, part of the Harvard Caregroup in Boston, Massachusetts. There, he completed the prestigious Otto E. AuFranc Fellowship in adult reconstructive surgery. Dr. Chow has also completed a fellowship in arthroscopic surgery from the Orthopaedic Center of Southern Illinois, in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. For more information, visit chowhipandknee.com.
|
