TUALATIN, Ore. -- A state-of-the-art procedure is being performed in both Vancouver and Tualatin to help patients undergoing delicate knee surgeries.
A robotic arm is used in the knee replacement surgeries and helps get patients back on their feet quickly.
"I'm very much of an outdoor person... some people like to build models or garden, but I came from this European family that just loved to hike," said Jacqui Bostrom, 70.
Over the years, Bostrom's knees started to hurt while doing her two loves: kayaking and hiking. They hurt so badly, Bostrom worried she wouldn't be able to continue doing them.
That's when she heard about MAKOplasty, a new procedure aiming at getting patients back on their feet faster, but with more of their own knees and with less pain.
"I don't know what I would do and when I was faced with losing it, there wasn't anything else I could think of what I wanted to do," she said.
A cat-scan of the patient's knee generates a virtual three-dimension model. Doctors then establish exactly where they want to resurface the knee, whether it be in one place or several.
A robotic arm and computer navigation gives doctors a precise area to work on the knee. The result is a replacement knee that feels as normal as possible, according to Dr. Todd Borus at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
"We're able to preserve most of the patient's own bone anatomy and all the major ligaments of the knee," he explained.
They've completed 120 robotic surgeries so far and about 95% of the patients went home the day after surgery, Borus said.
Jacqui Bostrom, for instance had two different surgeries. One in May, and another on her other knee in November 2010. Both times she said she was back to driving in one week and hiking in two.
"I never used crutches. I never used a walker. I just used a cane," said Bostrom.
"That's normal for this type of surgery," said Borus. "It's not uncommon when we see a patient eight to ten days after surgery they walk into the office with no limp, no cane and no crutches."
It's so patients like Bostrom can get back to moving again.
"Nobody can believe that I've had two knees replaced within the last year," she said.
There are only two medical centers in our region where the MAKOplasty surgeries are being performed, Legacy Salmon Creek in Vancouver, Washington and Legacy Meridian Park in Tualatin.
To find out more about MAKOplasty, visit:
Or call:
Legacy Salmon Creek (360) 487-5341
Legacy Meridian Park (503) 692-2411
