Hip replacement surgery helps to heal many conditions. Osteoarthritis can occur when the cartilage around the hip joint wears down over time due to aging. Rheumatoid arthritis can occur when your immune system attacks the hip joint. Or you could need hip surgery due to a prior injury.
“Many non-surgical treatments, such as medication, joint injections and physical therapy, can help ease the discomfort. But when those don’t work, total hip replacement surgery may be an option,” says orthopaedic surgeon Paul Weidner, MD, with Upper Bucks Orthopaedics at Grand View Health.
Now, surgeons at Grand View Health are using a new technology—Mako Robotic-Assisted Surgery—to perform total hip replacement surgery.
The Upper Bucks Orthopaedics team has used Mako technology to perform more than 200 knee replacements over the past year. In August 2020, Dr. Weidner performed the hospital’s first Mako-assisted hip replacement.
For hip replacement patients, the Mako journey begins before surgery with a CT scan of the hip joint. “With that scan, we generate a 3-D model unique to that patient’s hip anatomy, load it into a computer and create a surgical plan designed specifically for that patient,” Dr. Weidner says. He then combines his skill with the Mako robotic arm to perform the procedure.
Clinical studies show that using Mako leads to more accurate placement and alignment of hip implants based on the surgical plan. Mako also is proven to replicate the feeling of a natural hip and preserve healthy bone.
Learn more. Visit gvh.org/ortho.