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Sun City resident back to hiking

Gets new knee at Abrazo hospital

Posted 5/2/22

Sun City resident Tammy Bolduc, 63, is back to an active lifestyle of hiking, walking, riding her elliptical trainer and more after enduring years of knee pain and multiple meniscus repairs.

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Business

Sun City resident back to hiking

Gets new knee at Abrazo hospital

Posted

Sun City resident Tammy Bolduc, 63, is back to an active lifestyle of hiking, walking, riding her elliptical trainer and more after enduring years of knee pain and multiple meniscus repairs.

Not wanting to go through a fourth meniscus repair procedure, she decided it was time for a different approach. That approach was knee replacement surgery at an Abrazo Health hospital.

“I’m very active and I didn’t want another meniscus repair. Now I’m back to hiking, walking, using the elliptical,” said Bolduc.

She is one of the Abrazo patients who had knee replacement with the CORI Surgical System for partial and total knee replacement. The robot-assisted surgical system uses artificial intelligence to help surgeons accurately size and place knee replacement implants. A hand-held instrument uses computer guidance that enables physicians to sculpt the patient’s knee to receive the implant.

The AI-aided surgery system represents a new generation of robotic-assisted procedures and offers another option for those seeking relief from arthritic knee pain.

“Once I was released to full activity I went back to hiking on Thunderbird Mountain. I hiked four miles this morning. There is no pain at all. I’m just very pleased with the outcome,” Bolduc said.

Abrazo Scottsdale Campus, 3929 E. Bell Road, was first in Arizona to offer the system, adding to Abrazo Health hospitals’ growing list of complex robot-assisted surgery offerings. Abrazo Arrowhead Campus, 18701 N. 67th Ave., Glendale recently added the CORI robot to its operating room technology.

The new system enables surgeons to accurately predict how the knee is going to perform when parts of it are replaced. This is done during surgery, before the new joint is implanted. The artificial intelligence platform allows the surgeon to take the knee through its range of motion, and stress it throughout the entire range to make subtle adjustments in implant sizes and positions.

“The procedure is suitable for most patients who are healthy, normally active and have arthritis of the knee. Also, the anterior cruciate ligament is normally removed with most total knee replacements. With the aid of CORI, we can more precisely preserve the ACL — when intact — in healthy and active individuals. This can help the patient’s new knee feel more natural,” said Bolduc’s surgeon Dr. Brent Hansen, an orthopedic surgeon at Abrazo Arrowhead Campus.

Hansen stressed the system is surgeon-controlled. The robotics are assisting through precise programming of the patient’s anatomy into the computer-guided system, which also contributes to ligament-sparing during the procedure.

Most robotic-assisted surgeries allow minimally invasive techniques. In orthopedics, this could include less violation of bone or sparing ligaments, often allowing faster recovery. Robotics adds precision and accuracy to the surgeon’s movements.

Visit AbrazoHealth.com.

Editor’s Note: Keith Jones is Abrazo Health communications manager.