Up & Walking
Four Hours After
Getting A New Hip
Anna’s degenerative hip joint disease made it difficult and
painful to walk. Traditional surgery options to relieve her pain
might have meant a lengthy recovery, a shoe lift, or other
long-term complications. But she found new hope with the
orthopaedic team at Allegheny Health Network, the only
surgeons in the region performing a robotic-arm assisted
procedure that had her walking down the hall to thank her
surgeon — just four hours after surgery.
West Penn Hospital Orthopaedic Surgery Director Dr.
Michael Seel, and Anna’s own orthopaedic surgeon, Dr.
Timothy J. Sauber, helped her understand how Mako™
total hip arthroplasty was different.
“For patients who qualify, using the Mako Robotic Arm
Interactive Orthopaedic system can make a drastic difference
in their overall comfort and recovery time — reducing the
timeframe from months to weeks,” said Dr. Sauber.
“Anna has made tremendous progress since undergoing the
Mako procedure,” he added. “In only four hours after her
initial surgery and some minor physical therapy she was able
to walk unassisted — and give me and our staff big thank you
hugs. It was a great moment for everyone.”
AHN physicians perform Mako robotic-arm assisted
surgeries like Anna’s at Allegheny General Hospital,
Forbes Hospital, Jefferson Hospital, Saint Vincent Hospital,
and West Penn Hospital.
Cutting-Edge Technology
Used in both total hip and partial knee replacements, Mako creates
a three-dimensional map of the surgical area and uses a robotic
arm to let surgeons be more precise. That precision also keeps
more healthy bone and tissue intact, leading to potentially quicker
recovery times and shorter hospital stays.
*Claim based on inpatient utilization data for the 29 counties in WPA as
reported by Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council for calendar
years 2012-2015. www.phc4.org/reports/utilization/inpatient/
“
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Designed for patients like Anna with degenerative joint
diseases, the procedure also put Anna at less risk for her
implant and bone abnormally rubbing together, which may
help her implant last longer.
In only four
hours after
her initial
surgery…she
was able to
walk unassisted.
- Dr. Sauber