Alan's Robotic-Assisted Knee Surgery

Alan Marchant’s knee pain was getting worse, but the Turlock resident wasn’t going to rush into anything.

“It had been bothering me for quite a while,” said the 67-year-old, who owns Turlock Scavenger Company. “I’d heard about a new style of knee replacement, and researched it a little bit.”

Two things helped Alan in his research. First, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Scott Colquhoun from Turlock’s Romeo Medical Clinic came and spoke at his Rotary club. Second, Emanuel Medical Center held a seminar last summer about new options in orthopedic surgery, and several physicians made presentations.

Colquhoun’s was on a new technology he and other orthopedists are able to use at Emanuel Medical Center, a robotic-assisted procedure called the Navio system, which helps surgeons chose and precisely position the implants used during joint replacements.

“After the seminar, I went up to Dr. Colquhoun and asked how soon I could get it done,” Alan said.

Not long after that, he came to Emanuel for surgery.

“I was one of the first ones of the day,” he remembered. “I went in around 5:30 a.m., got prepped, and I think it was around 7 a.m. when I went into the operating room for the actual surgery.”

The operation lasted about an hour-and-a-half, and the damaged parts of his thigh and shin bones were replaced with implants, with a polymer disk between them to replace his worn-out cartilage.

Dr. Colquhoun remembers everything going smoothly in the operating room.

“The robotic-assisted aspect of it is very nice,” he said. “You use it to make a plan based on the patient’s anatomy in real time, make the cuts, and then check the accuracy of the cuts with the robotic hand piece. It’s extremely accurate and a really powerful tool.”

Alan wasn’t conscious for that part, but remembers what happened next.

“By that afternoon, I was out of there,” he said. “I was on my way back to my house.”

His recovery is going well.

“I walk around the yard at work and don’t have the pain I did before,” he said. “If I had to do it over, I’d do it the exact same way. I tell everybody if they have knee pain they at least have to go talk to Dr. Colquhoun.”

For his part, Dr. Colquhoun is glad the Navio system is available at Emanuel.

“We’re lucky to have that kind of technology in Turlock,” he said. “It’s excellent equipment and I’m grateful Emanuel’s made it available to the orthopedic community in Turlock. For a town this size, we’re very fortunate to have it.”