Bended knees need a MIS TKA
Patients at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital afflicted with knee problems and in need of replacement surgery will no longer have to submit themselves to the traditional physician's scalpel and be cooped up there for more than a week after the operation.
They will instead have their pain reduced and be able to go home a day after being operated upon, thanks to a new development called minimally invasive surgery for total knee arthroplasty (MIS TKA), pioneered by Zimmer, a company prominent in orthopaedic treatments. Professor Dr Pibul Itiravivong, head of the orthopaedics department at the hospital, said MIS TKA, combined with a computer navigation procedure known as CAS EM, ensured greater surgical precision than ever before, obviating replacements. MIS TKA is less harmful to tissues around the knee than orthodox surgery. It causes smaller wounds, restricts bleeding, and makes for faster healing with a smaller incision, from about 22 cm long down to between 10 to 15 cm. "It's good for patients who'll experience less pain and be saddled with fewer damaged tissues," said Pibul. He said MIS had been widely accepted for many procedures. Meanwhile Computer-Assisted Solutions Electro-Magnetic (CAS EM) blends medical innovations in computer technology, intelligent surgical navigation tools and virtual 3-D software. These cutting edge technologies are designed to preserve and augment visualisation during surgery, help with precise placement of instruments, assist in proper implant positioning, and save patients and physicians from radiation exposure whilst enhancing the surgeon's confidence when performing MIS TKA. "The patient now walks home the day after he's been operated upon. Orthodox surgery called for a 10-day break from normal life," said Pibul. The hospital begins this service this month, operating on two patients each day. About 7,000 people nationally are likely to avail themselves of the opportunity. He said that patients and surgeons will benefit from this new technology since it enables more accuracy in less invasive surgical procedures, real-time localisation certainty and higher surgical precision, real-time alignment information, and reduced risks of revision surgery, especially when normal landmarks are compromised. It also reduces unnecessary bone resection and verifies a range of motion through quantifiable kinematics testing.
jirapan@nationgroup.com
Jirapan Boonnoon The Nation
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