Original article at https://www.pahomepage.com/news/mako-personalized-joint-replacement-surgery/
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) – Surgery these days isn’t what it used to be. Joint replacement which once required patients to stay in the hospital for days can be done as an outpatient procedure thanks to advanced robotic technology.
Hip replacement surgery is a good example. Decades ago, a patient would spend a week or so in the hospital. As Eyewitness News Healthbeat Reporter Mark Hiller explains, they’re now going home the same day as was the case of a Jackson Township, Susquehanna County woman who now has a new artificial hip.
Three weeks after undergoing hip replacement surgery at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, 54-year-old Cindy Gerchman saw her orthopaedic surgeon for a checkup. Until recently, she dealt with debilitating pain from her arthritic right hip. “It was excruciating. Getting in and out of the car was hard. Any time I had to physically bend and straighten, it just hurt. Movement hurt.”
She knew she needed a surgical solution and turned to Geisinger Orthopaedic Surgeon John Mercuri, MD. “We go in and remove the ball and the inside of the socket and replace it with these metal and plastic and ceramic components.”
Unlike traditional surgery of the past which required cutting through added muscle and bone, Dr. Mercuri now uses a different technique. He demonstrated how on Thursday by simulating robotic arm-assisted joint replacement surgery with a system he uses called Mako. It allows him to replace patients’ hips and knees in a less-invasive method. Before making any incisions, Dr. Mercuri creates a personalized surgical plan using CT scan 3D imaging. He then determines such things as the size of the implant based on the patient’s specific anatomy. “It will help me get the exact result that I planned for with that exact level of accuracy,” said Dr. Mercuri.
Ms. Gerchman was able to go home the same day of her hip replacement and couldn’t believe the immediate outcome. “There was no pain in my hip,” she said. Continuing therapy and healing, she’s ready to embrace the future all thanks to her Mako hip replacement. “Just to be able to move around and not hurt.”
Ms. Gerchman says she looks forward to resuming such activities as hiking, four-wheeling and horseback riding in due time. She hopes to be able to return to work next week. Mako is offered exclusively at Geisinger hospitals in northeastern and central Pennsylvania.