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Any tool that increases an orthopedic surgeon's certainty when
resurfacing a patient's knee would be worthwhile, right? Brian
McWhorter, DO, sure thinks so.
"Ultimately it comes down to patient satisfaction," says Dr.
McWhorter, an orthopedic surgeon with Hedley Orthopaedic
Institute and Mountain Vista Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz.
"Everyone wants a faster recovery, a smaller incision and less
pain. Robotics gives you the ability to deliver that."
Unicompartmental knee replacements, or "unis," represent
about 5% to 10% of Dr. McWhorter's total joint replacement vol-
ume, and he performs just about every one of them with the
assistance of a robotic surgical arm. He believes robotics will
become more of an OR fixture in the years ahead, not only for
unis but for all kinds of joint replacements.
"Right now manual is the norm, but in the next decade or 15
years, robotics will become more of the norm," he says. "The
• ARM IN ARM Surgeons using robotic surgical systems to assist in joint replacements may become "the norm"
within a decade.
The Case for Robotic Unis
