Minimally Invasive (MIS) Total Knee Replacement &
CAS – Computer Assisted Surgical Techniques

A Patient's View

“…i don’t even think about it anymore.”

After years of painful wear and tear on a knee damaged by an old football injury, 51-year-old Dave Neyens is back fighting fires – and back to the active lifestyle he thought he might never enjoy again.

Neyens says it’s all thanks to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Craig McAllister of Proliance Surgeons and the cutting-edge research lab at Evergreen that’s allowed Dr. McAllister to refine a new type of total knee replacement surgery. It marries minimally invasive surgery (MIS) with computer-assisted surgical techniques (CAS) to help give patients a perfectly-aligned new knee.

On its own, minimally invasive surgery is improving patients lives after knee replacement. Dr. McAllister points to a study he published last year on 200 knee replacements that he performed. “Half were traditional surgeries; the other half were minimally-invasive surgeries,” he says. “The traditional patients took a year to get back their pre-operative range of motion. The minimally-invasive patients took just three months. “They also had less pain, faster recovery, and smaller incisions.”

And that was without the computer-assisted techniques. Now, wireless mice attached to the patient’s leg and a computer up and running during surgery bring even less invasiveness and more precision to the operating table. The result is a knee that is better aligned and will last longer. Dr. McAllister compares it to your car’s tires. “If your front wheels are a little misaligned, it still feels fine when you drive,” he explains, “but your tire wears out at 30,000 miles instead of 60,000 miles. If your new knee is even five degrees off, it may work fine in the beginning, but it won’t last as long as one that is ideally aligned.

Orthopedic Research Center

Evergreen is a leader in blending MIS and CAS – and one of the few places in the country to routinely use both of them in knee replacement surgeries.

Evergreen is at the forefront of this revolution because of its Orthopedic Research Center, where Dr. McAllister and his colleagues refine their surgical techniques. CAS instruments were originally designed for the traditional incisions and are simply too big for MIS techniques. The Evergreen Orthopedic Research Center has enabled us to redesign and test new instruments that allow CAS to be combined with MIS knee replacement. “That’s why Evergreen is one of the very few places in the country that is combining MIS and CAS,” Dr. McAllister states.

That’s made Evergreen’s Orthopedic Research Center a destination learning center for surgeons, nurses and technicians from all over the United States. They come here to get practical experience in the operating room, or to get hands-on experience in the lab with minimally invasive surgery with computer-assisted surgical techniques.

Back to Normal

Those revolutionary surgical techniques allowed Battalion Chief Dave Neyens to return to the Everett Fire Department after just five months off the job. A year ago, he couldn’t even walk the quarter of a mile around his block because of the pain. Now he’s riding his bike, lifting weights and of course putting his life on the line whenever the fire alarm goes off. “There’s times when I don’t even think about it any more,” Neyens smiles. “The joint feels totally normal.”

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