Outpatient Knee Pain Relief Comes to Greenwich Village

By Frederick Francis Buechel, M.D.

TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT MAY BE NECESSARY for those who have extensive wear and tear in more than one of the three knee compartments.

Every January, I tend to hear from patients who are assessing their wellbeing and looking for innovative ways to be active and healthy. Many are held back by physical ailments that rob them of the day-to-day activities and hobbies they once enjoyed. One of the joys of my job as an orthopedic surgeon is helping these individuals have a new lease on life through groundbreaking restorative surgeries.

As a specialist in total and partial robotic knee replacements, I take pride in helping patients play sports again, exercise or simply keep up with their kids. My interest in robotic surgeries began 14 years ago after observing one of the procedure’s pioneers and my good friend, Dr. Martin Roche, perform an early robotic partial knee replacement. Inspired by this life-changing precision technology, I used the Mako Robotic Knee System to help patients by performing 230 partial knee replacements my first year. Now, many years later, I have performed over 2,000 robotic partial knees on patients from around the world. More than a year ago, I had the honor of being the first surgeon to perform an outpatient robotic total knee replacement at Lenox Health Greenwich Village (LHGV), and since then, I have performed various types of outpatient robotic partial knee replacements – medial, lateral and patellofemoral – proudly bringing this incredible procedure to the West Village community. 

Total knee replacement may be necessary for those who have extensive wear and tear in more than one of the three knee compartments. The great news is that if you require a total knee replacement, the surgery can be done as an outpatient procedure, or if you require hospitalization, it may be as short as an overnight stay – a feat unheard of just several years ago. Total knee replacements performed with the Mako robotic technology can provide patients with a customized knee installation based on their own ligament balance and natural alignment. This is achieved through the advanced ligament balancing software and the increased safety provided by the robotic guided bone preparation. Robotic partial knee replacements are growing in popularity in comparison to total knee replacements, as they provide a quicker, less painful recovery, a more natural feel, and a better range of motion. They can also last decades – like total knee replacements – when done precisely by an expert surgeon using robotic technology. 

Some surgeons may not be comfortable with partial knee replacements because they did not have significant exposure to this procedure during their training. For this reason, many surgeons tend to opt for traditional total knee replacements, even when patients qualify for partial replacements. With the investments made by Northwell Health at LHGV, we can thoroughly evaluate and examine each patient with state-of-the-art imaging to assess the extent of their knee impairment. If the damage is concentrated to just one of the three compartments of the knee, the inner side, the outer side or the kneecap, the patient may be a good candidate for a partial knee replacement. This relatively quick outpatient procedure provides significant pain relief and helps people return to their active lifestyles with the comfort they experienced before an injury or joint deterioration. 

Additionally, the state-of-the-art robotic technology that we utilize at LHGV for these procedures eliminates many potential complications of traditional surgery. The innovative technology allows us to use advanced CT scans to virtually plan the surgery ahead of time. The imaging helps us customize the operation to each patient’s particular anatomy and identify any issues that may arise before we even enter the operating room. The robotic arm we use to prepare the bone for the implants communicates precisely with each individual’s specific bony anatomy, ensuring the bone removal is personalized and exact, providing precision and safety for each patient.

A recent outpatient partial knee replacement surgery I performed at LHGV was on a 47-year-old patient who lived and worked through debilitating pain for many years. He spent the last several years unable to run around with his kids and struggled every day at work with pain and a limp. I performed robotic medial partial knee replacement on both of his knees and a few hours after entering the facility, he was back home recuperating. A few short weeks later, he was able to return to work and is running and keeping up with his kids – all pain-free. It’s success stories like this that make my job so satisfying.

If you suffer with knee pain, I encourage you to make an appointment and come see me. Relief is quicker and easier than you know. Call our office at 212-308-3089 to make an appointment that may change your life and get you back to an active lifestyle again. Click here to visit our website to learn more about this amazing technology.

Frederick Francis Buechel, Jr. M.D., is the director of robotic assisted knee surgery at Lenox Health Greenwich Village and Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital.