Robotic Joint Replacement Surgery
The most recent technological advance in attempting to improve results from Total Hip and Knee replacements..
Robotic Joint replacement surgery relies on a combination of pre-operative planning (Xrays and CT scans) with computer-assisted alignment and a surgeon-controlled robotic ‘arm’ to precisely make cuts in the bone.
About Robotic Joint Replacement Surgery
Robotic Joint replacement surgery is the most recent technological advance in attempting to improve results from Total Hip and Knee replacements. It relies on a combination of pre-operative planning (Xrays and CT scans) with computer-assisted alignment and a surgeon-controlled robotic ‘arm’ to precisely make cuts in the bone.
Robotic surgery in Orthopaedics is better described as robotic-assisted surgery, as it involves a robotic arm to control a cutting device for the bone only. The surgeon still performs all parts of the operation, however, once the bone is to be cut, the robotic arm is brought into place to assist the surgeon to cut in a precise, pre-determined alignment.
Hip Replacement surgery: The robotic arm allows the surgeon to align the cutting device for the ‘cup’ of the hip joint to the desired position based on the pre-operative planning.
Knee Replacement surgery: The robotic arm with the cutting blade ensures the alignment of the surgical bone cuts on both sides of the knee joint are in the pre-operatively planned position.
According to the Knee Society of Australia, Robotic-assisted Partial knee replacements have shown good results over the past 2 years however, long-term results are still not available due to Robotic surgery being newer than the conventional types of surgery. Results of Robotic-assisted Total Hip and Total Knee replacement are unclear at this stage, again due to its recent introduction
The pre-operative and post-operative course following Robotically assisted surgery is no different to that following conventional knee and hip replacement.
At this point in time in NSW, Robotic joint replacement surgery is mostly only available in the private hospital setting due to cost limitations.