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MIS partial TKR planned for Web cast in March
The technique of minimally invasive total knee replacement continues to improve, aided now by computer assistance.
Surgeons at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia report utilizing computer-assisted surgery (CAS) along with minimally invasive surgery (MIS) to perform partial total knee replacements (TKR), a technique they said is associated with shorter operating room time and possibly a quicker recovery.
They recently announced plans to broadcast one such surgery on the Internet March 30 at 4:30 p.m. EST. Peter F. Sharkey, MD, associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson, will perform the procedure. The broadcast is intended for patients, physicians and other interested parties, according to a press release.
CAS tools not only aid in partial TKR but also help avoid the need for TKR, Sharkey said.
“Many doctors are reluctant to do one compartment of the knee because most people have arthritis in more than one section or throughout the entire knee. As a result, surgeons typically just do a TKR,” he said in the release.
Richard Rothman, MD, PhD, director of the Rothman Institute at Jefferson and James Edwards Professor and Chair of orthopedic surgery at Jefferson Medical College, will narrate the surgery.
This computer-assisted technique represents an innovation in minimally invasive TKR, according to Sharkey.
“We haven’t been able to do a selective implant in more than one compartment in the past, due to a lack of implants and instrumentation issues,” he said. Today, the virtual and highly detailed image of the patient’s knee displayed on the computer screen aids him in precisely placing the component in a single knee compartment. “You get a full-scale picture of the knee” using the navigation system, he said.
The Web cast can be viewed online.