Advances in surgical techniques

More than 100,000 knee procedures were carried out in the UK during 20171 and developments in robot-assisted surgery are offering patients faster recovery times. Mr Dinesh Nathwani, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at The London Clinic private hospital and charity, discusses current and future advances for robot-assisted knee replacement surgery.

The knee is the one of the largest joints in the body and it is also one of the most complex. The knee joint is made up of three main compartments, which are connected by muscles, ligaments, and tendons. With time, the cartilage surfaces may wear out. When this happens the joint becomes steadily more painful and eventually knee surgery is the only way to get rid of the pain and improve quality of life, especially for people who are used to active lifestyles and hobbies.

The London Clinic, an independent private hospital and charity in Harley Street, was the first private hospital in the UK to introduce robotic surgery across different clinical specialties. The hospital introduced the handheld NAVIO robot-assisted surgical system in January 2018 to support my work as an orthopaedic surgeon for total and partial knee replacement surgery. The London Clinic is one of the few hospitals in the UK to offer this robot-assisted system to surgeons and their patients and, during 2018, 30 patients were operated on using it. The system is also in place at Charing Cross Hospital where I have performed over 120 robot assisted knee replacements in the last year.