Penn Orthopaedics offers multiple options for joint replacement surgery, including the latest robotic knee and hip replacement technologies. In this video, Dr. Travers, Director of the Penn Orthopaedics Robotics and Navigation Program, discusses what robotic joint replacement surgery is and how it differs from traditional joint replacement surgery, as well as the benefits of this procedure. We also hear from three patients who recount their personal experiences before and after robotic knee replacement surgery. Schedule an appointment . Learn more about the Penn Joint Replacement Program. Learn more about Dr. Travers
About eight years ago, I started having pain in my knee and I went to the doctor and they said I was bone on bone in both knees. So I've been dealing with that with exercise and, but after the pandemic, the pain and not being able to go swimming or anything, that's when I searched out for, to see an orthopedic doctor, I stopped traveling because my knees were that bad. I, you, you can't walk with anyone and go do anything. I had to order vacations. I had to order any activity I had to think, hey, where's a place I can sit down? You know, I couldn't stand long. First time I hurt. My knee was about 13 years ago at work. I was just kneeling down and I stood up and I felt something go poop for a period of time. The pain got worse and worse and worse until I knew I had to do something. My name, it's Chris Travers. I'm a joint replacement surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, and specifically, I'm the director of the orthopedic Robotics program. What drew me to robotics is that it really is the next frontier of joint replacement, the more traditional way of doing the replacement is you take your measurements, you do your kind of best estimates and best alignment. And then after you've placed your implants, you start to do some little augmentations to the soft tissue around the knees. Robotics is different in the sense that you get a lot of that information before you've made a single cup. So you measure the tightness of the joint, you start placing the components differently in space in a very precise way. So by the time you put the implants in, everything is pretty much balanced at that point. So anything that causes the joint surface which is covered in cartilage to be damaged or uneven or malformed, we can replace that with an implant. So anyone who can have a joint replacement, can have a robotic joint replacement. It's still the surgeon using his own hands, using a very advanced uh basically power tool on a robotic arm. For the most part, it allows you to be very precise and not have to make a lot of changes on the fly. And ultimately, we will hopefully make this a safer and better procedure. He went from about seven degrees short of getting fully straight. So a little bit of a droop here when we finished, you were perfectly straight, you got back to about 100 and 20 degrees. So really well be x rays look beautiful. Everything looks really good. What led me to Penn orthopedics was that they're, they're like one of the best in the country. The process of Penn was great. I just had to call up, make an appointment with the X rays. Blood test. Everything was all set up in one place. It was, you know, ABC D and they went right down the line. It was very easy. At first I was a little worried about the surgery because I watched all these videos and I saw people's recovery and all the horror stories that they had. And I was surprised that when I came out, I had no issues. I could stand. I had no pain. I was actually went to the bathroom at the hospital and they were like, call me when you're done and they'll help me and I walked right back to the room with no help at all. Ultimately, our goal is to make these last longer and function better. Surgery is so successful that now I'm gonna have my other knee done and I don't have any hesitation or worry about when I'm gonna get it done. What I'm looking forward to just be able to get down on one knee is my first step. Just regular everyday things, walking the dogs, doing your laundry, uh, going to the grocery store, it's very easy. Now, if I know anybody who's having surgery that needs surgery, I would definitely recommend pen, I would recommend pen orthopedics. I would recommend doctor Travers and pet medicine and I have.
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