China, Shanghai - On August 29, 2015, sponsored by Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital ("Shanghai No.6 Hospital") and Suzhou MicroPort Joint Co ("MicroPort® Joint"), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co, the "New Technology Academic Exchange Conference of Minimally Invasive Orthopedic Arthroplasty" was held in Shanghai No.6 Hospital. More than 200 experts in the field of joint surgery had discussions focusing on the hot topic of artificial joint replacement and its challenges.
It is reported that, when fast recovery technology and apparatus for joint replacement surgery is applied, it could take only 3 hours after surgery for the patients to walk on the ground in the fastest cases, instead of needing the long recovery period, as described by the traditional concept of "beating 100 days". In addition, Shanghai No.6 Hospital and MicroPort® Joint are working together to build "MicroPort® Joint rehabilitation training center". The center will hold training classes to the surgeons in the aspects of joint replacement surgery technology, accelerating the promotion of the concept of fast recovery, in order to serve the patients better. Changqing Zhang, the Vice President of Shanghai No.6 Hospital, said: "minimally invasive has been the goal that the surgeons have been pursuing all the time. With the aging of the population, China's artificial joint replacement market grows quickly, and how to help patients to achieve fast recovery of joint function and how to improve patients' satisfaction have become the most important field of artificial joint replacement. Fast recovery is a comprehensive concept involving minimally invasive surgical techniques, blood management, pain management, and postoperative rehabilitation program."
Fast Recovery after Minimally Invasive Surgery
As Co-founders of "MicroPort® Joint rehabilitation training center", MicroPort® Joint and Shanghai No.6 Hospital will have in-depth cooperation in fast recovery, people training, surgical technique training. A series of advanced fast recovery surgery technology Including SuperPath™ surgical technique will be promoted in training center.
SuperPath™ surgical technique is a major leap in artificial hip joint replacement technique, which was promoted in the United States and European countries widely. Compared with the traditional hip replacement technology, SuperPath™'s incision is as small as 6-8 cm for artificial hip replacement, keeping the soft tissues as most as it can and significantly reducing bleeding and injury in the operation. Patients do not need to restrict their body movement positions and activities after surgery and therefore, SuperPath™ can shorten patients' time of stay in hospital, greatly improving the early post-operative efficacy and patients' satisfaction rate. SuperPath™ was applied in 2014 by MicroPort® Orthopedics for the first time, which has been extended to nearly 50 hospitals within 14 provinces and cities.
Fast Recovery makes patients to walk more naturally
In the eyes of orthopedics experts, the key for fast recovery depends not only on the use of advanced surgical techniques, but also the selection of the implant in the Department of orthopedics. Both are equally important. MicroPort® Orthopedics in the conference launched the second generation of Evolution™ Medial-Pivot Knee System that is the world's first and only complete imitation of human physiological structure of knee joint. It is the new product, which is dedicated to help patients recover quickly after a total knee arthroplasty. The Evolution™ is designed to replicate the movement and stability of a normal, healthy knee by incorporating a patented ball-in-socket feature on the medial side. At the same time, it reduces the Evolution™ osteotomy during operation, so patients can recover faster, and patient satisfaction rate is improved.
In addition, Evolution™ solves the problem of walking instability that exists after total knee arthroplasty surgery in the traditional system. Thigh muscles of patients don't need to be put with extra effort to achieve more movement. Evolution also has a high degree of movement capability, can meet the needs of stairs climbing , squatting, sitting on knees in Asian countries, taking into consideration of stability and movement capability. Using Evolution™, patients can recover their normal life capability, including swimming, mountain climbing and riding bikes, achieving even better joint functionality and overall physical feeling, without compromising life quality.
As the main trend of the development of artificial joint replacement, the concept of "fast recovery" has been highly recognized and approved by hospitals, clinical experts and medical enterprises. It can not only improve the management efficiency, improve the level of recovery of postoperative rehabilitation, but also improve the utilization of medical resources. Zhaohua Chang, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MicroPort®, said: "minimally invasive surgery is not only an advanced operation method, but also a kind of medical enlightenment that puts patients first. In the future, "MicroPort® Joint rehabilitation training center" will provide an educational platform for a lot of surgeons that combines theory training, operation observation and clinical practicing. It will improve joint surgery technology, allow fast rehabilitation of joint replacement and benefit more patients in China，so patients in China can enjoy the world's most advanced joint replacement technology and products without going overseas."