| Patient walks next day with new procedure for knee replacement |
By Alyesha Asghar/FOR THE REGISTER-HERALD
 | | A new procedure for knee replacement surgery is much less invasive than previous procedures and results in less blood loss, a much smaller incision and a much faster rehabilitation and recovery time. Elsie Allison, shown on crutches above being assisted by a hospital aide, is the first person in the region to undergo the surgery, which was performed by Dr. Walid Azzo at Bluefield Regional Medical Center. The doctor termed Allison's surgery "a complete success." (Courtesy photo) |
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BLUEFIELD - Elsie Allison never envisioned herself slowing down as she got older.
However, when the active stay-at-home mom was diagnosed with severe arthritis in her knee, she was told she needed complete knee replacement surgery to escape the constant pain.
"I considered the old surgery, but was forced to wait when I kept on getting other infections," Allison said. "But now I am glad that I waited because this surgery has been great. I cannot tell you how great it feels to be allowed to return home so soon after the surgery."
Allison is the first person on whom Bluefield Regional Medical Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Walid Azzo has performed the surgery. In fact, she is the first person in the region to undergo the new procedure.
"I think the operation was a complete success," Azzo said. "A day after the surgery, she was able to walk and will return home on her own feet."
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Traditional knee replacement surgery would have meant a large cut that would have resulted in scars, heavy blood loss and a long rehabilitation. However, Azzo's recent study of minimally invasive hip and knee replacement surgeries that have rethought traditional methods made Allison's worries a thing of the past.
"The new instruments and procedures allow us to attach prosthesis with muscle-sparing incisions," Azzo said. "All earlier methods of surgery required a 10-to-12 inch cut as well as cutting the quadriceps muscles for the knee replacement, but the new surgery is quad-sparing and results in faster and less painful recovery."
The new surgery is not just a minimal incision surgery, but a minimally invasive procedure as well, Azzo said.
Zimmer Inc. created the new surgical instruments that made the new procedure possible. Azzo traveled to Orlando, Fla., and the Zimmer Institute, Warsaw, Ind., to learn how to practice the new procedure.
"The company does not release instruments to surgeons who are not trained by them and there are only 500 surgeons trained to practice this procedure in the United States," Azzo said.
Azzo is one of only four surgeons in West Virginia who is qualified to perform the quad-sparing knee and the two-incision hip procedures.
"The new surgery may take a little longer than the traditional method, but the patient loses less blood," Azzo said. "It does not cost much more than the old method and the major saving is in the time and pain that you avoid during rehabilitation."
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