Kingdom to implant an artificial knee joint
Armed forces hospitals in the northwestern region began to introduce advanced modern technology, which is the use of computers in surgical navigation to perform orthopedic operations using modern artificial joints, as the first hospital in the Kingdom to use this technology. The first two operations of the artificial knee were performed last week at the Military Hospital in Tabuk after the Saudi doctor Fayez Bin Abdullah Filemban, the first consultant orthopedic surgery, was successful as a new event in the region.
For his part, Dr. Fayez Filemban expressed to "Al-Riyadh" that he is pleased that this technology is under the doctor''s management, which was a dream for doctors in the past, as it is considered a precise method that helps them to place the prosthetic knee with extreme precision that takes into account the weight of the body on the knee joint, which must pass from the weight center. In the hip joint and the ankle joint, this advanced technique using the surgical navigation system exposes the surgeon when placing the prosthetic joint all other variables such as the three dimensions of the bone and the angles of inclination. This technique has determined the information with great accuracy and adds as well. Omar is assumed more than the usual procedures, which contributes to the success of these complex operations in the first place, which increases the confidence of the surgeon and the patient in the success of these operations. In the future, surgical navigation in orthopedics is expected to be the basis for all artificial joint operations.
How the device works
Dr. Fayez Filemban says that this device consists of three important elements and the surgeon holds a small pointer that contains transmitters. This indicator performs the process of feeding the computer with information about the anatomical parts of the knee. When this indicator moves on the anatomical main points, it draws for the computer the shape and size of the knee bones and all its parts. This stage is called a phase. Recording is the stage of giving and feeding the computer in the shape and size of the diseased knee, as well as the extent of its balance. Then the computer can build the required shape and size by analyzing the amount of information received and comparing it with thousands of models that have been entered to it during the basic programming of the device.
Dr. Filemban adds, as for how to receive this information, it is through the third element, which is a special receiving camera that works by means of infrared rays. This camera is a receiver installed on a holder and placed in a place through which it can receive the infrared signals that are sent by the transmitters installed on the leg And the patient’s thigh, as well as issued by the pointer that the surgeon uses during the operation, and when the recording period ends and the anatomical information is given, and after the computer is the shape, size and balance, the computer suggests the steps of the operation, the size of the bone cut, the corners of the cut, the dimensions and directions of the cut, and from this point of view came the word navigation as the whole process resembles Satellite navigation, so entering information about points and parts of the bone is actually entering coordinates into a computer. When the bone is cut and the angles are chosen, it is done on the basis of three dimensions. Computer navigation helps in managing this process as it indicates the surgeon the correct direction and the accurate angle of the shear and the special camera works the satellite work As it receives information about movement, position and angle and sends it to the future, which is a destination Az the computer to analyze this information and the computer shows it on the screen in three dimensions, and this stage is a very sensitive stage, so any error or defect in the corners and directions leads to the failure of the process and that through the loss of balance and thus the short life of the supposed prosthetic knee. The Director of the Armed Forces Hospital in the Northwestern Region, Brigadier Doctor Ghaleb Ghalib bin Harib, also spoke about this first success at the level of the Kingdom using this technology, saying that this advanced step came with the grace of God and then with the support of the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the trustworthy Crown Prince, where this advanced device of the hospital was secured, which It provides a complex navigation system that identifies the parts and dimensions of the knee bones with extreme precision. It suggests to the surgeon a work plan and the size of the prosthetic knee to be used, and this technique is used by major university hospitals in Europe and America.
He adds that the hospital, God willing, will start using this technique in complex fracture surgery, brain and nerve surgery, including the spine, and ear, nose and throat surgery.
On the other hand, "Al-Riyadh" met with the first citizen to undergo this operation using the surgical navigation technique, Awadh bin Matar Al-Harithi, who thanked first and lastly to God Almighty, then to the director of the Military Hospital in Tabuk and to Dr. Fayez Filemban for the success of the operation he carried out, where his suffering began three years ago. After the erosion of the knee joint, which made him unable to bend his knee completely, and after reviews and appointments with several government hospitals they assured him that the operation may not be completely successful, as the knee in the case of an artificial joint may bend (to the degree of 90) only, and private hospitals, the costs of the operation were high and with an uncertain success. .
