Barry Walker is looking forward to throwing his one-year-old great grandson in the air and catching him.
The 85-year-old from Bendigo was suffering pain in his shoulders for years and the arthritis grew progressively worse so for six months he could barely extend his arms above his head.
Reaching for the top shelf in the pantry was impossible and washing his own hair was a challenge.
"It was just wear and tear from an active life," Barry says.
Barry was trying to avoid surgery but the symptoms have become too severe and by the end of April he was keen to become the first patient at Epworth Richmond to undergo robotic-assisted shoulder replacement surgery.
"Apart from the shoulder I'm as fit as a Mallee bull and I quite enjoy being a pioneer."
Shoulder, knee and elbow orthopaedic surgeon Dr Soong Chua and orthopaedic upper limb and trauma surgeon Dr Brett Moreira led the medical milestone.
"The Mako robotic technology has successfully been used in hip and knee replacement surgery with accuracy and precision, but this was a first for Epworth to use it for shoulder surgery," Dr Moreira said.
Dr Chua, who performed Barry's surgery, said the robot used was the Mako robotic arm which has haptic technology that prevents the instrument from deviating outside of set boundaries and allows a high degree of accuracy in all planes. It provides intra-operative, real time guidance during surgery for optimal implant placement.
"The surgery was a reverse total shoulder replacement which is primarily used for patients with severe arthritis of the shoulder. It is called a reverse because the ball and socket are reversed around. This allows different muscles to move the shoulder and can be an advantage compared to traditional replacements for some patients, particularly those who have rotator cuff problems, which is the majority in the older age group," Dr Chua said.
Traditional joint replacement surgery continues to deliver excellent outcomes, with robotic-assisted surgery offering another method of joint preparation for implant positioning. At Epworth, both robotic-assisted and traditional surgical techniques are continually delivering optimum outcomes for patients.
Dr Chua says robotic-assisted surgery may lead to improved short term, immediate post-operative pain and return of function, function of the shoulder replacement once fully recovered, and long-term implant survivorship.
"Optimal outcomes rely on accurate placement of the components in terms of alignment of the implants and trajectory of the screws that hold the implant in place. Accurate placement should mean better function for the patient in terms of final movement and use once fully recovered," he said.
