San Francisco Surgery Center - World's First Asc To Conduct Innovative Robot-Assisted Partial Knee Replacement Surgery

Main Category: Bones / Orthopedics
Also Included In: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 12 Apr 2011 - 3:00 PDT


San Francisco Surgery Center (SFSC) announced today it is the first ambulatory surgical facility in the world to offer MAKOplasty, a new robotic arm-guided procedure for treating osteoarthritis of the knee. It is also the first and only medical facility in the San Francisco Bay Area to provide this leading-edge procedure, currently offered in only 29 hospitals in the United States.

The MAKOplasty procedure uses a CT scan to generate patient-specific 3D remodeling and reconstruction of bone surfaces for optimal inter-component alignment, which dramatically increases placement accuracy. Moreover, focusing on just the osteoarthritis-affected portion of the knee allows the surgeon to resurface the damaged area without compromising the healthy bone and tissue surrounding it.

"With this new robotic technology, I could take on a particularly difficult case involving the replacement of the patellofemoral joint of the kneecap and opposing femur," said orthopaedic surgeon Kevin R. Stone, M.D., who along with co-surgeon John H. Velyvis M.D, performed the first MAKOplasty at SFSC last Tuesday. "It meant a much greater level of precision and accuracy in a much smaller incision area than I would have had using traditional instruments and techniques."

For his 64-year-old patient who traveled from Alaska for the procedure, it meant literally walking out of the center on crutches within two hours after the surgery and starting physical therapy the next day. Typically, a patient receiving a traditional partial knee replacement requires a one or two day post-operative hospital stay.

"San Francisco is one of the nation's preeminent centers of advanced medical technology, so we are extremely excited to be the first to bring MAKOplasty to the medical community here," said Dr. Glen K. Lau, Managing Director at SFSC. "Minimally invasive joint replacement surgery performed as an outpatient procedure is faster, better, and less costly, benefiting both payers and patients. I have no doubt it has the potential to revolutionize orthopaedics and the economics of healthcare."

Source:
San Francisco Surgery Center

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