Shady Grove Medical Center First in Region to Perform Robotic Knee Surgery

Story by Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center

Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Md., is the first hospital in the Metro Washington, D.C., area performing minimally invasive total knee replacement using the MAKOplasty® robotics system. MAKOplasty®, less invasive than traditional joint replacement surgery, is performed using a surgeon-controlled robotic arm to enhance stability and increase range of motion.

Virginia DeSeau, 65, of Rockville, Md., was the first Shady Grove patient to receive a total knee replacement with the technology. Shady Grove surgeon Dr. Sridhar Durbhakula performed the operation in late April. DeSeau says before surgery, arthritis had severely limited her life. “I was not able to do some of my daily activities and none of my recreational activities.”

Two-and-a-half weeks after the procedure, DeSeau was walking without assistance and her therapists reported that she had regained 95 percent of her strength and mobility.

“I had a cane, but I didn’t need it,” she says. She is looking forward to getting back to hiking and white-water canoeing, which she had stopped before surgery because she could not kneel.

This new technology adds to the robotic capabilities for partial knee and total hip replacements already in place at Shady Grove. In 2015, the hospital became the first in the region to acquire a MAKOplasty® orthopedic robot.

“With this latest addition to our orthopedics program, we are now uniquely positioned to serve patients seeking knee and hip replacements,” says Dr. Kevin Smothers, chief medical officer at Shady Grove Medical Center. “This technology provides our patients with a minimally invasive surgery option, which provides them with a shorter hospital stay, better outcomes and faster recovery, so they can get back to their lives and daily activities.”