April 23, 2018 – Southeast Georgia Health System recently completed
a research study, “Patient Reported and Clinical Outcomes of Robotic-Arm
Assisted Unicondylar Knee Arthroplasty: Minimum Two Year Follow-Up”
that has been accepted for presentation at the 2018 World Arthroplasty
Congress in Rome, Italy.
Organized by the European Knee Society (EKS), the International Congress
for Joint Reconstruction (ICJR) and supported by the European Hip Society
(EHS), the World Arthroplasty Congress is a meeting dedicated to the exchange
of surgical innovation, cutting-edge science and practical knowledge related
to joint arthroplasty.
Principal investigator and lead author
J. Melvin Deese, M.D. will have the honor of presenting the research. The co-investigators for
the study were
Denny A. Carter, M.D. and
Beau Sasser, M.D. Co-authors on the manuscript were Gwen Gratto-Cox, CCRC and
Karah L. Brown, PA-C, MPAS. All investigators and authors are with
Summit Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Surgery, a strategic affiliate of the Health System.
“We are very excited about our work being accepted for presentation
at this prestigious international meeting and look forward to presenting
more in the future,” said Deese.
Unicondylar Knee Arthroplasty (UKA) originated in the 1950’s. Over
the years, there have been many enhancements to the implants as well as
the surgical technique, improving the precision and accuracy of this challenging
operation.
“There are many studies reporting clinical outcomes for Robotic-Arm
Interactive Orthopedic System (RIO) Mako Stryker, but research offered
nothing regarding patient reported outcomes,” explained Deese. “Prior
to our study, there was no data reported on how patients feel about their
knees two years after surgery. Our study questions include: Is there pain?
How well can you perform daily activities? Does it feel normal? With the
shift toward patient-centered care, it is essential to focus on patient
reported outcomes, as well as clinical results.”
Eighty-one patients who had robotic-arm assisted UKA at Southeast Georgia
Health System between May 2009 and September 2013 consented to participate
in the study during their annual routine clinical follow-up. Participants
completed multiple validated survey questions regarding the status and
function of their operative knee.
The Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and 2011 Knee Society
Scores are scientifically validated surveys used worldwide to measure
patient reported and clinical outcomes. These surveys were all completed
by the patients except for range of motion and knee alignment which was
reported by the physician. Pain, symptoms, activities of daily living
and quality of life scores all indicated that patients were satisfied
and doing very well, with the exception of sports and recreation. This
category had the lowest percentage of patients who were satisfied.
“The survey asked patients about satisfaction with their function
while running, jumping, kneeling, squatting, twisting and pivoting on
the operative knee,” explains Deese. “We advise our UKA patients
to only perform low-impact activities, so we would not expect them to
have high scores in sports and recreation.”
Deese added, “We had positive results from the most important question,
‘Does your knee feel normal?’ This question is essential in
our study since it reflects the patients overall sense of how their knee
feels. Ninety-seven percent said, ‘My knee feels normal.’”.
The Health System plans to continue their research with a 10 year follow-up
report. To learn more about the research projects at Southeast Georgia
Health System, contact Gwen Gratto-Cox, clinical research coordinator,
at 912-466-7379.