A patient of Dr. Karkare talks about her knee replacement, as she and the doctor appear in this segment that aired in June of 2016 for a CBS affiliate in Green Bay Wisconsin.
Here’s the transcript of the video:
Reporter: In Health Watch, Chelly Boutott shows us the steps that surgeons are taking to get patients up and moving fast.
Chelly Boutott: More than 700,000 Americans have knee replacement surgery every year to eliminate chronic pain from worn out joints. Doctors say that number will skyrocket over the next decade. Now a new two-pronged approach is helping patients get back on their feet faster then ever before.
56 year old, Judy Tactil started struggling to get around almost 7 years ago.
Judy: As you’re walking, you’re scraping bone on bone. Very, very painful.
Chelly Boutott: Judy had one knee replaced. At that time, traditional knee replacement meant in-patient physical therapy and a long recovery.
Dr. Karkare: How is your knee feeling?
Chelly Boutott: When Judy’s other knee started to wear out recently, she was anxious to find a better way. Dr. Nakul Karkare is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hips and new knees.
Dr. Karkare pre-plans surgery using 3-dimensional imaging of a patients knee. Then during surgery, he uses specialized tools, or jigs.
Dr. Karkare: The advantage of using these jigs is that these jigs are customized specifically for the patient.
Chelly Boutott: Surgeons make very precise cuts to remove the diseased part of the bone and then insert the artificial joint.
Dr. Karkare: There’s also less invasive because we do a lot less cutting and drilling into the bone and I think that translates into a little bit better rehabilitation.
Chelly Boutott: Judy was on her feet shortly after surgery and home a day later.
Judy: I feel good.
Chelly Boutott: Dr. Karkare tells patients to expect their new knees to feel great after about 12 weeks of physical therapy. Now even with the less invasive customized procedure, Dr. Karkare says recovery from these surgeries still takes longer than hip replacement.
That’s your Health Watch. I’m Chelly Boutott, Local 5 news.
