Artificial Joint Robotic Surgery Misunderstanding and Truth...I'm done worrying about my legs. My joints will be straightened in about two weeks

Dec 28, 2024

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In the aging era, joint disease is a major factor threatening the health of the elderly. In particular, knee degenerative arthritis causes great discomfort in daily life and deteriorates quality of life. According to statistics from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients treated for degenerative arthroplasia increased from 3.82 million in 2020 to 4.33 million in 2023. In the meantime, artificial joint surgery gives hope to arthritis patients and is widely performed.

However, patients may not be able to undergo surgery on time due to incorrect information such as 'The pain after surgery is worse' and 'The artificial joint has a short lifespan'.

With the help of Lee Woon-sung, head of the Orthopedic Joint Center at Centum General Hospital, and Park Jae-hong, head of the department, 'Misunderstanding and Truth about Artificial Joint Robotic Surgery' was summarized.

-The later you do knee artificial joint surgery, the better?

▶ Factors affecting the lifespan of artificial joints are the selection of appropriate implants, the accuracy of surgery, and rehabilitation and proper follow-up care.

Since the advent of robotic surgery, the results of surgery have improved, and it is expected that it can be used for more than 20 to 30 years recently. Rather, if you do it too late, the results may be poor, so it is recommended to do it at the age of 65 to 70.

-Does artificial joint surgery make your legs stretch legs that don't bend?

▶ Previously, postoperative rehabilitation and management were not properly performed, so the flexion angle was not sufficiently obtained, and there were very few poor results called 'stretch legs'. However, recently, surgical techniques and implant designs have been improved, and in particular, as rehabilitation and recovery are accelerated after artificial joint robotic surgery, the joints can be fully unfolded about two weeks after surgery.

- Artificial joint surgery can't be done when you're too old?

When everyone gets older, the frequency of systemic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cerebrovascular, and myocardial infarction increases. For this reason, the risk of functional recovery and complications after surgery may be higher than that of young people, but artificial joint surgery is simply determined by one's whole body health condition rather than body age, so it is necessary to be evaluated through specialist treatment before surgery. In most cases, surgery can be carried out safely as long as appropriate evaluation and management are performed before and after surgery.

Director Park Jae-hong of the Joint Center at Centum General Hospital said, "Artificial joint robotic surgery goes beyond just the advancement of surgical techniques and contributes greatly to improving the quality of life of patients."Robot surgery simultaneously increases accuracy and safety, reducing the burden on patients and helping them recover quickly" he stressed.