The Doctors TV Show demonstrated a ground breaking Robotic Hip Replacement Surgery during their show which was themed Health Trends for 2011. Joy, a 54 year old woman, said she was in constant pain and no position was comfortable whether she was lying down, standing, or walking. She was always in pain. The Drs TV Show gave us a front row seat for the first ever Robotic Hip Replacement Surgery performed by Dr Lawrence Dorr, Medical Director of Dorr Arthritis Institute at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, California.
The Doctors: Robotic Hip Replacement Surgery
Dr Dorr siad that the robot guide provides incredible accuracy during every step of the hip replacement 
surgery. He made an incision to gain access to Joy’s hip, then he used black knobs to feed information into the camera, which then get sent to the computer. Dr Dorr dislocated the ball of the hip joint and the computer software mapped out Joy’s femur so that it knew precisely the shape and location of everything. Dr Dorr touched Joy’s femur 24 times to register the exact size and location into the computer.
The Doctors: Robot Guide for Hip Replacement Results
After 6 weeks, Joy came on The Doctors to talk about her experience with her Robotic Guided Hip Replacement. She was the first patient to ever have the surgery done by this robot and Dr Dorr was the first surgeon to ever perform it. Joy said that she feels great and feels lucky that she was able to walk just 4 hours after the surgery. Just days later she could walk around outside and even climb stairs. A week after her hip replacement surgery, she was able to walk a full mile.
Dr Dorr said that the advantage of using a robot is that it allows you to have precise numbers and to be extremely accurate. Previously, surgeons had to use their intuition and instincts during hip replacement surgery – which was usually right – but there are always outliers. Dr Dorr said that a survey conducted in Boston found that 30-35% of hip replacements done there were not quite right, so it is crucial to get this technology out so that doctors can reduce errors and increase the effectiveness of this surgery. Dr Dorr said that when Hip Replacement Surgery is successful, you only need it replaced every 30 years. However, if the doctor does not get it quite right, you may require another surgery in just 5 years.
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