The system provides robotic guidance for partial knee replacement, a less invasive option for some patients who have early to mid-stage osteoarthritis in the knee.
“MAKOplasty allows us to treat patients with knee osteoarthritis at earlier stages with greater precision,” said Andrew Star, MD, medical director of Abington Health’s Orthopaedic & Spine Institute. “Because it is less invasive and preserves more of the patient’s natural knee, the goal is for patients to have relief from their pain, get back their knee motion and return to their daily activities.”
Here are five things to know about the procedure:
1. The surgeon uses MAKO’s RIO system to pre-plan and then perform the surgery using robotic guidance.
2. The surgeon can do pre-planning based on a three-dimensional view of the patient’s knee from CT imaging. Surgeons can customize the procedure during the pre-planning stage as a result.
3. The robot isn’t performing surgery, however; the surgeon uses the robot for guidance and to avoid going outside of the pre-surgical plan. However the plan can be changed during surgery to make real-time adjustments and achieve optimal implant positioning and placement.
4. This is a less invasive procedure, meaning potentially less pain, hospitalization and a smaller scar. The recovery is also expected to be quicker than open surgeries.
5. Abington Memorial Hospital is among the first hospitals in the region to acquire this technology.
More articles on orthopedic surgery:
AAHKS awards 4 surgeons with Young Investigators Award
Excelsior Orthopedics plans $9M expansion
Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital to open $15M orthopedic, spine center
