Joints develop osteoarthritis with advancing age and wear and tear, and other factors like rheumatoid arthritis, gout, joint trauma, deformity causing abnormal joint loading and more. Although arthritic joints initially respond well to the medicines and physiotherapy, for severely damaged joints, joint replacement surgery is the only effective treatment.
What are the latest advancements in joint replacement surgery?
Robotic technology is the new advancement in joint replacement surgery, wherein computer software analyses pre-operative CT scans and maps the bony landmarks, and provides live information during the surgery about the structure and movement of the joint.
Does the robot perform surgery
independently?
The robots assist surgeons in making calculations and share information to help them make better decisions, thereby improving accuracy of the surgery. The surgeon holds ultimate control, and the robot/computer are merely loyal assistants.
Why is robotic surgery preferred over conventional procedures?
In traditional joint replacement surgery, the decision regarding bone cuts and ligament balancing solely depends on the surgeon, and hence prone to human errors. Further, with conventional surgery, ligament injuries and complications are also increased.
- Smaller incision
- Similar surgical time and outcome
- Lesser pain and swelling of the surgical site – more comfort
- Lesser hospital stay
- Increased durability of the implants due to lesser ligament injury
Why is robotic surgery not used for all joint replacement cases?
Robotic Joint replacement is a new technology and still not many people are trained to do surgeries with this technology, also the cost involved in buying the robot is high, although I predict that in the next 10 years we will see this technology being adopted by most centres in India due the advantages it offers.
Dr Kunal Patel
Senior Consultant, Orthopedic & Robotic Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, Greams
Road, Chennai, Contact: 7200487544,
E-mail: [email protected]
