Brown says that once again, there was nothing unusual in Orey’s case. The only difference was his surgical technique.
“We did the second one robotically,” Brown says. “The initial manual procedure went very well, and Dede recovered nicely. But robotic-assisted surgery allows us to be very precise. We were able to recreate what we did in the first procedure with almost no variation.”
Orey’s surgery was one of the first robotic knee cases performed in the state-of-the-art surgical suite at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Hecktown Oaks. Brown used Mako SmartRobotics™ System, a robotic-arm assisted technology, which permits the orthopedic surgeon to use a three-dimensional model of the knee joint to observe bone structure and disease severity before placing the implant. In Orey’s case, Brown was able to precisely mirror the left-knee implant. Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute utilizes six robotic knee systems across Lehigh Valley Health Network.
“By being more precise, we can tailor the operation more closely to the needs of the patient and theoretically can improve outcomes and satisfaction,” Brown says.
Overall, robotic knee replacements benefit patients by resulting in less pain, less need for inpatient physical therapy, reduction in length of hospital stay and improved knee flexion and tissue protection, resulting in better outcomes and faster return to normal activity.