Greater Regional Health now offering robotic-arm assisted joint replacement

Greater Regional Health is the first hospital in southwest Iowa to offer Mako SmartRobotics — a robotic arm assistance for joint replacement surgery. This advancement transforms the way total knee, partial knee and total hip replacements are performed, by helping surgeons know more and cut less.

Mako SmartRobotics uses 3D CT-based scan planning, which creates better mapping of surgical areas, thus creating more accurate surgical procedures. This technology has shown much better outcomes for these surgical procedures.

“With Mako SmartRobotics, I know more about my patients than ever before, and I’m able to cut less. For some patients, this can mean less soft tissue damage; for others, greater bone preservation,” said Dr. William Ralston, orthopedic surgeon at Greater Regional Health. “Mako’s 3D CT allows me to create a personalized plan based on each patient’s unique anatomy before entering the operating room. During surgery, I can validate that plan and make any necessary adjustments while guiding the robotic arm to execute that plan. It’s exciting to be able to offer this transformative technology across the joint replacement service line to perform total knee, total hip and partial knee replacement.”

Mako Total Knee combines advanced robotic technology which enables surgeons to have increased precision and accuracy. Clinical studies demonstrated the potential for patients to experience less pain, less need for opiate analgesics, less need for inpatient physical therapy, reduction in length of hospital stay, improved knee flexion and greater soft tissue protection in comparison to manual techniques.

This treatment option is also designed to relieve knee joint degeneration pain, not yet progressed, due to osteoarthritis. The surgeon guides the robotic arm during bone preparation to plan, positioning an implant. By selectively targeting only the part of the knee damaged by osteoarthritis, surgeons can resurface the diseased portion of the knee while helping to protect the healthy bone surrounding the knee joint. Studies have shown that robotic arm assisted partial knee replacement leads to greater accuracy of implant position to plan compared to manual partial knee replacement procedures.

This treatment option is also suitable for adults who suffer from degenerative joint disease of the hip.

For more information visit greaterregional.org.