(Warwick, RI) -- Kent Hospital has announced that its highly successful total joint program now includes robotic surgery featuring the Mako robot. To date, surgeons, including Robert M. Shalvoy, MD, Executive Chief of Orthopedic Surgery & Sports Medicine, Care New England Health System and Jonathan A. Gastel, Orthopedic Surgeon have been trained on robotic surgery and are currently performing joint replacement surgeries with the assistance of the state-of-the-art technology.
“I’m excited to announce that we have performed successful orthopedic surgeries at Kent Hospital, using the Mako robotic arm! This is a groundbreaking time, not only due to the state-of-the-art technology the Mako robot brings to Kent, but also because we are the only hospital in the state, other than South County, to have a Mako robot in the operating room,” said Robert Haffey, president, Kent Hospital.
“The MAKO robot is able to perform knee and hip replacement surgeries with great precision, which makes it the most predictably successful surgery one can have, today. This translates into better success for patients, which is always the end goal for health care providers here at Care New England,” said Robert M. Shalvoy, MD, Executive Chief, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, Care New England.
The Mako robot is able to serve as an assistant to the orthopedic surgeon to achieve unmatched precision in total joint, hip, and knee procedures. The surgeon is able to use the robot’s scanning capabilities to generate a 3D model of the patients’ joint, which will allow them to have a more in-depth and accurate look into the joint when planning for the operation. During the surgery, the surgeon is also able to use the robotic arm to better position the implant as well as remove diseased bone and cartilage within a pre-defined area, allowing for greater precision and comfort for the patient.
Kent Hospital, a Care New England Hospital, is a 359-bed, acute care hospital. It is Rhode Island’s second largest hospital, serving approximately 300,000 residents of central Rhode Island.
A teaching affiliate of The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kent offers programs in Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and an Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship. Kent’s redesigned Emergency Department (ED) sees approximately 70,000 patients a year and ranks Kent’s ED volume among the top 10-percent nationally. It was the first hospital in the state to eliminate the practice of ambulance diversion.