Knee Deep in Surgical Technology at Thompson Hospital

Just two weeks after his total knee replacement at F.F. Thompson Hospital – and a little physical therapy at our Farmington Rehabilitation – Dean Power and his wife hit the road and drove the 1,300 miles to their new home in Florida.

Now enjoying retirement in the Sunshine State, Dean is very happy with his recovery. “I can get out and ride the bike and walk!” said the former Farmington resident.

With Nicholas Valente, MD of UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance as his surgeon, Dean, 63, was the first Thompson patient to benefit from the ROSA® Knee System, a robotic surgical assistant.

With a surgeon at the helm, the ROSA technology involves a console and a robotic arm which increases surgical safety and reliability, and allows for extremely high levels of precision. By giving the surgeon a finely-detailed understanding of both the bone and soft tissue, it allows him or her to tailor the surgical plan to the patient’s unique anatomy. In addition, it is designed to enhance efficiency while also providing data collection capabilities.

“I find robotics helpful for total knee arthroplasty because it helps create a balanced knee which matches the patient’s own soft tissue anatomy,” said Dr. Valente. “Matching a patient’s anatomy seems to result in a more ‘native’ feel to the knee, which impacts post-operative pain and function. The accuracy and reproducibility in which this can be achieved was not previously possible without robotics.”

While Dean was aware he was the very first Thompson patient whose surgery involved the ROSA, he didn’t know too many details about the technology behind it; but he’s OK with that. He appreciates how it helped Dr. Valente achieve an optimal outcome, but he is also pleased that he had much less pain following the ROSA procedure than he had after his knee surgery six years prior.

“I think it’s gone pretty well!” Dean said.

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