If you are experiencing severe joint pain due to a degenerative condition like osteoarthritis or a serious injury, joint replacement surgery can be life-changing. It involves removing the diseased bone and damaged cartilage in the affected joint and replacing them with prosthetic implants designed to replicate the movement of your natural joint. Joint replacement offers relief from pain and can significantly improve quality of life, enabling you to resume many of the activities you used to enjoy.
What is Mako robotic arm-assisted technology?
At Carrothers Orthopaedics, we use Mako robotic arm assisted technology – a state-of-the-art system that has been developed by Stryker in collaboration with orthopaedic surgeons to support joint replacement surgery. In trials, Mako has been shown to deliver outstanding results.
How does Mako work?
Mako complements the surgical skills of orthopaedic surgeons by allowing the surgeon to create a personalised surgical plan that subsequently, with the use of the Mako robotic-arm, helps to guide the joint replacement surgical procedure. The plan is based on a CT scan that patients undergo prior to surgery, which allows creation of an accurate 3D model of their unique joint anatomy and then the ability to draw up a pre-operative patient specific personalised surgical plan.
On the operating table, Mako helps the surgeon to focus on removing diseased bone and preserving as much healthy bone as possible. It guides them to operate only within the pre-defined area set out in the surgical plan, although fractional adjustments can be made if necessary. Mako supports the surgeon to position the implant in the optimum position based on the patient’s individual bone structure and surrounding skeleton.
What are the benefits of Mako?
The first Mako procedure was performed in June 2006 and there are over 13,000 procedures performed globally every month. Studies have consistently shown excellent outcomes.
The system helps surgeons to carry out their surgical procedures with greater accuracy and to protect surrounding soft tissues and ligaments from damage.
In a clinical study, Mako patients surveyed after six months reported lower pain scores than those who received a conventional joint replacement.
Another clinical study showed Mako patients surveyed after six months reported better satisfaction scores compared to those who received a conventional joint replacement.
Mako surgery is more minimally-invasive, so patients spend less time on the operating table and typically recover faster.
Who is suitable for Mako robotic arm-assisted joint replacement?
Mako robotic arm-assisted joint replacement surgery is normally offered to patients with severe joint pain due to osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, traumatic arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, avascular necrosis or severe fractures.
We use it to assist with total hip replacements, total knee replacements and partial knee replacements.
What is revision joint replacement?
In the early stages of degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis, we recommend non-surgical treatments, such as pain-relieving injections, gentle exercise or bracing. This is because, although prosthetic implants typically last around 15-20 years, eventually they do wear out. When this happens, you will need to undergo a revision joint replacement, which means removing the prosthetic joint and replacing it with a new one.
Revision joint replacement surgery generally has poorer outcomes than primary joint replacements and a higher risk of complications. For this reason, depending on the patient, we may advise postponing joint replacement surgery for as long as possible to reduce your chances of needing to undergo revision joint replacement in the future.
One of the advantages of having Mako robotic arm-assisted surgery for your primary joint replacement, however, is that it helps to preserve as much healthy bone as possible and this is an important advantage if you need to have revision surgery at a later date.
Talk to an orthopaedic consultant | Cambridge
Contact us for more information about joint replacement surgery and the Mako system.
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For your convenience, we offer appointments at both Nuffield Hospital Cambridge and Spire Cambridge Lea Hospital.
