North Fulton Regional Hospital has become the first institution in North Metro Atlanta to offer custom fit knee replacement. With OtisKnee, Orthopedic surgeons can for the first time precisely match the size and placement of the implant to the patient’s unique and normal (non-arthritic) knee anatomy.

This new “custom fit” approach enables surgeons to preserve more bone and ligaments, allowing for better implant fit and alignment. Physicians and patients have reported a quicker and less painful recovery, increased range of motion, a more “natural” feeling knee, and greater ease in performing normal living activities such as golfing, biking and gardening.

“I am very pleased with my first case from several standpoints,” said Barry A. Koffler, MD, the first North Fulton Regional Hospital orthopedic surgeon to use the custom fit knee replacement technique. “The new technology is helping to improve the quality of total knee replacement by allowing for a more precise implant fit based on the patient’s own anatomy. Other benefits include shorter surgery time, easier post-op rehabilitation and the potential for better longer term results.”

Custom fit knee replacement is achieved in a few steps, before and during surgery.

1.  First. Prior to surgery, an MRI is performed to take very precise measurements of the patient’s arthritic knee.

2. Second, computer software creates a 3-D image of that knee and then virtually corrects the deformity to return the knee to its pre-arthritic state.

3. Third, a computerized 3-D image of the implant to be used in the patient’s surgery is then customized to the anatomically correct virtual knee model. This helps determine the correct implant size and placement, based on the patient’s own normal (non-arthritic) knee anatomy.

4. Last, using all of this information, special cutting guides are created for the surgeon to use during the procedure. These patient-specific cutting guides, which are accurate to within a few millimeters, indicate to the surgeon exactly where to make bone cuts so that the knee replacement is customized for the individual patient.

“I can’t even compare the new knee to what I was experiencing before the surgery,” commented Mike Brownlee of Roswell, Ga., who received a custom fit knee replacement on his right knee on May 19. “I had the surgery on a Monday and by Saturday I was out at Stone Mountain walking on crutches. By the second week after surgery, I was walking without a cane. “And now a month since surgery, I have walked on the beach, ridden a bike, and things are working out well.”

North Fulton Regional Hospital will offer a free program on surgical options for knee replacement on Tuesday, October 21. Presented by NFRH Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Russell Sabrin, the program will begin at 5:30 in the classrooms of the hospital just inside the main entrance. For more information and to register for the program, please visit www.northfultonregional.com/event, keyword search “orthopedic services.”

North Fulton Regional Hospital (NFRH), part of Tenet Georgia, is a 202-bed, acute-care hospital located on Highway 9, Alpharetta Highway, in Roswell. Opened in 1983, NFRH serves North Fulton and surrounding counties through its team of over 1000 employees, 400 staff physicians and 200 volunteers. NFRH is a state-designated Level II trauma center and provides a continuum of services through its centers and programs, including neurosciences, orthopedics, rehabilitation, surgical services, bariatric surgical weight loss, gastroenterology and oncology. The hospital is fully accredited and also is certified as a Primary Stroke Center by the Joint
Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency.

For more information about knee replacement and other joint replacement options at North Fulton Regional Hospital visit www.northfultonregional.com/joint.