Robot Assisted Total Knee Replacement
When a patient has intolerable pain secondary to arthritis, sometimes the best treatment is a new knee made out of metal and plastic (total knee replacement). Since the operation originated 50 years ago, the operation has given relief to countless patients and the number of patient choosing to have the operation increases every year. Patients have reclaimed their life and mobility, thanks to the pain relief afforded by the procedure.
As good as the operation is, there are still some patients who have pain or have less than the desired level of function after surgery. While some of the reasons why are easy to diagnose, there are some patients in which there is no obvious reason for the pain and discomfort. One possible reason may be improper balancing of the stresses across the knee. One side of the knee may be under more or less tension than the other side which may explain some of the pain and dysfunction. The modern tools that orthopaedic surgeons use to perform knee replacements are excellent but there are limitations as to how much feedback they give the surgeon as the knee replacement is being performed. The tools are excellent for aligning the parts the knee replacement but are unable to give any detailed information about the tension and balance.
Enter the Robot! When a robot is used during a knee replacement, the surgeon is able to identify and use the detailed and precise feedback to adjust the fit of the implants achieve a custom and personalized fit to each individual patient. Every patient is different, from the shape of the bones, to the amount of deformity, to the resting tension of the soft tissues around the knee. Robot technology is able to measure and adjust to the individual variables presented by each patient, much more so than we have ever been able to do in the past. With more control over the variables, the surgery becomes faster and more efficient, allowing you to recover easier and faster with much less discomfort. By adding modern pain control, bleeding management and anesthesia techniques, once was what an 1 week stay in the hospital is now an outpatient procedure.
Dr. Jeffers uses the ROSA robot from ZimmerBiomet. He is proud to say that he was one the first in the area to recognize the advantages this particular robot can offer to his patients. If you have knee arthritis and are thinking about a knee replacement, make an appointment with Dr. Jeffers to discuss a robot assisted total knee replacement would be right for you.