A total turnaround with the OtisKnee system

An active senior gets the spring back in her step after undergoing knee replacement surgery

(from Vim & Vigor magazine , winter 2009)

Today, you're likely to find Sue Humphrey at the local gym walking on a treadmill, but less than a year ago she wasn't taking any more steps than she needed to. Her arthritic knee had become so painful that even routine shopping trips were a chore.

"I had gotten to the point where I could hardly walk at all," Humphrey says. "My right knee hurt so much I could barely pick my leg up by the time I got back to the car."

For the past several months, life has been different. Humphrey's exercise routine represents only a small sample of her increased activity. The 66 year-old stays busy at her Livermore home with all sorts of household duties and fun activities. Over the summer, she pulled weeds from her flower garden and cut the grass. Now she's making preparations to celebrate the holidays with her children and grandchildren.

Humphrey got into her new routine quickly after undergoing an advanced knee replacement surgery that restored her joint to its prearthritic state. Joe Polio, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at Owensboro Medical Health System, used the OtisKnee® to relieve Humphrey's knee pain. Polio began using the OtisKnee system--advanced technology that allows surgeons to customize knee implants for a patient's anatomy--in 2008.

How it works

Here's how the OtisKnee system works. Patients get an MRI scan ahead of time. Then, specialized computer software converts the scan into a 3-D model of the diseased knee, then corrects the arthritic changes and creates another image of the knee in its normal, nonarthritic state. The software also determines the right size and replacement of the implant for use in surgery, all based on the patient's normal knee model. The surgeon receives customized guides to work with in the operating room, allowing for precise sizing and positioning of the patient's knee implant.

The OtisKnee consistently yields good results and provides patients with an excellent range of motion," Polio says. Other benefits include shorter surgery time, less blood loss and not as much time under anesthesia. Recovery time also tends to progress more quickly than with conventional knee replacement surgery.

Besides advanced technology, Humphrey participated in physical therapy with other patients at the OMHS Joint Replacement Center and completed her individual therapy about five weeks after returning home.

"I with I had it done sooner," she says. "I feel so much better."