LEWISTON — Central Maine Medical Center is the first hospital in central Maine to offer Stryker’s Mako robotic arm assisted total and partial knee replacement and hip replacement procedures. This latest advancement in joint replacement surgery is transforming the way joint replacement procedures are performed. Daniel Carlson, MD and Michael DeFrance, DO, launched this innovation with a Mako total knee replacement on Sept. 19. These surgeons have undergone special training in addition to their fellowship training to perform this procedure.

The Mako robotic certified team also includes orthopedic surgeons Michael Regan, MD and Patrick Fallon, MD.

Robotic arm assisted surgery is an advanced approach to joint replacement that offers the potential for a higher level of patient-specific implant alignment and positioning. Joint replacement is designed to relieve the pain caused by joint degeneration due to osteoarthritis. Robotic technology allows surgeons to create a patient-specific 3D plan and perform joint replacement surgery using a surgeon controlled robotic arm that helps the surgeon execute the procedure with a high degree of accuracy.

“The availability of the MAKO robot, in the hands of a skilled surgeon and team, is changing the way joint replacement surgeries are performed,” said Dr. DeFrance. “Using a virtual 3D model, surgeons personalize each patient’s surgical plan pre-operatively, to determine how the surgeon will position the implant before entering the operating room. Robotic joint replacement surgery offers patients many benefits, including increased precision for more accurate joint replacements, fewer and less scarring, shorter hospital stays, and quicker recovery times.

“We are proud to be the first to use this innovative technology in central Maine,” said Lauren Adey, MD, chief of Orthopedics at Central Maine Healthcare. “It is part of our commitment to provide our community with the most technologically advanced care possible.”

Learn more about Central Maine Healthcare Orthopedics at www.cmhc.org. Learn more about Mako robotic assisted joint replacement surgery at www.cmhc.org/mako.

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