Modern medicine has come a long way, especially when it comes to surgery. The first human blood transfusion occurred in 1818, demonstrations of ether as anesthesia took place in 1846, and the first successful open-heart surgery took place in 1896. Fast-forward to the 1980s, and the first documented robotic surgery took place.
Medical advancements have only increased since we entered the 21st century. Each year, new approaches and innovations get introduced, allowing surgeons to perform even more procedures faster and safer than ever. In fact, doctors now have more than 2,500 surgical techniques to tap into these days, and they continue building and refining their approaches to ensure even better outcomes.
Thomas Calton, MD, in Ogden, Utah, is one of these talented surgeons. Not only does he put his skills into practice at Elevate Surgical with the Mako SmartRobotics system, but he’s a primary designer for Ortho Development’s top-selling hardware and instrumentation for hip and knee replacement systems.
Robotic systems with surgical arms have three components:
- Surgical arms with rotating wrists and tiny instruments
- Specialized cameras that provide real-time, enhanced 3-D views of the surgical site
- A surgical console where your surgeon controls the instruments and camera
In this blog, Dr. Calton shares how this advanced approach provides three benefits when performing surgery.
1. Less trauma
Having surgery with the support of a robotic system means advanced guidance. And this means your surgeon can make more precise cuts and cause less tissue damage.
Before you enter the operating room, your provider makes a CT scan of the surgical site, and this information is imported into the robot’s computer system. The surgical site also gets mapped, and this information is also imported into the system.
This advanced computer technology provides Dr. Calton with more information, allowing him to perform the surgery more gently and with greater precision. And Dr. Calton no longer needs guide pins to secure cutting blocks to bones during knee replacements.
As a result, these procedures usually cause less tissue damage, bleeding, and pain, along with faster recovery times.
2. Greater planning
They say a good plan is half the work done, and that’s definitely the case with robot-assisted surgery. Access to this advanced technology allows for more precise planning every step of the way, down to the correct size and location of any implants.
After your pre-op surgical scans, Dr. Calton can use the robotic system to plan your entire procedure and even program the positioning and manipulation of specific instruments. This advanced planning makes for a more efficient surgery that comes with better outcomes, including:
- Shorter hospital stays
- Less blood loss
- Less risk of infection
- Less pain and discomfort
- Minimal scarring
Robot-assisted surgery also comes with shorter hospital stays and fewer complications.
3. More precision
As an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Calton is a perfectionist. Robot-assisted surgery gives him the means to finetune every adjustment needed to restore balance and joint function.
During your surgery, Dr. Calton uses the computer console to control the robotic arm. The arm mimics his hand, wrist, and finger movements. However, it has far greater dexterity, providing more precision, accuracy, flexibility, and control — even in the tightest spaces.
This allows Dr. Calton to finetune the smallest details for micro-level accuracy, without drilling additional pins into bones. And, in the case of Mako robot-assisted partial knee replacements, the satisfaction rating is 96.1%.
Are you ready to learn more about robot-assisted knee surgery? Learn more by calling (801) 758-0206 or booking an appointment online with Elevate Surgical today.