SUNWAY Medical Centre, Sunway City reaffirms their advocacy to provide better mobility and healthcare options for senior citizens to ensure better quality of life in the near future.
To this end, Sunway Medical Centre, one of Malaysia’s leading smart hospitals, has succeeded in carrying out the country’s first robot-assisted joint replacement procedure. This milestone achievement comes as part of the hospital’s diligent investment in state-of-the-art smart hospital technology to improve patient care and precision medicine.
As with many ailments, the risk of developing arthritis increases with age. Our joints are pertinent in allowing us to carry out essential daily activities, and when they become injured or diseased, the resulting pain and stiffness can severely limit one’s ability to use their joints and move comfortably. Osteoarthritis patients do experience some degree of movement limitation in their daily lives.
The most effective solution to improve these conditions is total joint replacement surgery – especially so for areas such as the knees and hips. These types of procedures are some of the most cost-effective and consistently successful surgeries performed in orthopaedics in recent years. Undergoing total joint replacement surgery provides pain relief from arthritis, functional restoration of arthritic joints, as well as improving overall health and comfort in elderly patients.
Revolutionising total joint replacement surgery
To accurately operate and insert the artificial joints, assistive technologies such as navigation systems and robotic assistance have been in development in recent years. These navigation and robotic systems function in similar fashion to global positioning systems (GPS) in vehicles, guiding surgeons toward the best route when conducting the procedure.
In a future-forward step toward improving the way total joint replacement surgery is conducted at their hospital, Sunway Medical Centre is using two advanced robotic systems to assist in these procedures. Both systems enhance the process of joint replacement by providing a CT-derived, patient-specific 3D model that grants the surgeon the ability to pre-plan the procedure and thus enable accurate planning of implant size and alignment. These futuristic systems also allow surgeons to virtually conduct a hip or knee replacement before performing any resections.
Sunway Medical Centre, Sunway City consultant orthopaedic and arthroplasty surgeon Dr Chua Hwa Sen explains that the new system is revolutionary in its unique ability to provide the patient with a personalised surgical experience that is specifically tailored to his individual needs and anatomy.
“With this technology, we are able to facilitate a higher accuracy of implant placement and conduct a successful operation with minimal invasiveness. This, in turn, allows the patient to experience less postoperative pain and a quicker recovery,” he said.
“This highly-intelligent and adaptive technology has allowed us to demonstrate an elevated level of accuracy and less alignment outliers in total knee arthroplasties compared to its conventional procedure. Its unique ability to analyse surgical decisions with quantifiable data gives me hope that we are truly providing our patients with the best possible smart hospital technology to improve their lives,” said Sunway Medical Centre, Sunway City consultant orthopaedic, arthroplasty and trauma surgeon Dr Suhail Suresh Abdullah.
Quick return to painless mobility
At its core, the purpose of carrying out total joint replacement surgery with robotic assistance is to ultimately ease the experience of patients. Among the many benefits seen in patients in recovery from robot-assisted surgery are less scarring, minimal blood loss, and a quicker return to their normal daily activities.
When compared to minimally invasive conventional surgery, a large portion of respondents mentioned they considered robot-assisted surgery to be safer, more efficient, less painful and provided better results post-operation.
With the integration of these state-of-the-art robotic systems, Sunway Medical Centre continues to solidify their position as one of the country’s pioneers in the healthcare industry.
The hospital intends to continue their stride toward strengthening investments in smart hospital technology for the foreseeable future, in line with their commitment to precision medicine and to expand their regional leadership in robotic surgery.
KKLIU: 1438/2022