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Robotic-arm assisted hip and knee replacement
Mr Brock uses the Stryker MAKO system. The surgery is planned from a 3D model of your own joint, and a robotic arm helps place the implant. Mr Brock is certified and trained to perform MAKO hip and knee replacement.
How it works
Four stages, with the surgeon in control throughout
The robot cannot do the operation on its own. Mr Brock performs the surgery and the arm assists him.
Before surgery
You have a CT scan of your hip or knee. The scan is turned into a 3D model.
Planning
The software produces a plan for implant position and size, chosen to match your anatomy.
In the operation
In a knee replacement the arm guides the bone cuts. In a hip replacement it guides the reaming of the socket. A boundary stops the tool leaving the planned area, which protects the tissue around it.
Checking
Implant position and soft-tissue balance are assessed during the operation, and Mr Brock can adjust them for you.
The system
MAKO robotic-arm assisted surgery
Mr Brock is certified and trained to perform MAKO robotic-arm assisted hip and knee replacement. The robotic arm assists with bone preparation. It cannot do the operation on its own.
Compared with manual surgery
What is established and what is not
Implant positioning
More accurate and more consistent. This is the clearest benefit.
How you feel afterwards
For knee replacement, pooled randomised trials show little or no difference in patient-reported outcomes overall. Some analyses find small gains. [add hip evidence summary]
Lasting longer
Not yet known. It has not been shown that better alignment makes an implant last longer.
Time in theatre
Longer than a manual operation.
Extra incision
A small additional incision holds the robot's sensors, for both hip and knee.
Video
Mr Brock talks about robotic surgery
Filmed at Tees Valley Hospital. Mr Brock explains robotic-arm assisted hip and knee replacement. The video loads from YouTube when you press play.
Open on YouTubeIs it right for you?
Mr Brock offers both robotic-arm assisted and manual joint replacement. At your appointment he explains which he recommends for your joint and why, so you can decide with the facts in front of you.
Ask about any extra hospital charge for robotic surgery before you book. See costs and funding.
Enquire about an appointmentWhere this comes from
Meta-analysis of randomised trials of robotic-assisted and conventional total knee replacement. Ruangsomboon and colleagues, Acta Orthopaedica, 2023.
A second systematic review of randomised trials found better alignment with robotic knee replacement and called for more trials to confirm any clinical benefit.
Manufacturer information for patients, from Stryker:
MAKO robotic-arm assisted total hip MAKO robotic-arm assisted total knee