Surgeon performs first spinal procedure in Colorado using new technology – Colorado Hometown Weekly
For several years, 83-year-old retired physicist Ed Westwater was suffering from spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spaces within the spine and was losing coordination of his limbs.
Westwater had profound weakness in his legs, and he and his family noticed that his already limited mobility was getting worse. He was told that his lumbar spine was in terrible shape and if he didn’t get it corrected, he may become paralyzed.
“I was starting to become more and more unstable,” Westwater said. “I had a couple of falls in the yard without hurting myself but my wife in particular had noticed that my condition had deteriorated quite noticeably. Everything pointed in the direction for immediate surgery.”
Now, Westwater is recovering at home with minimal to no pain and is making steady progress walking short distances without help. His improved condition is the result of a surgical procedure using new integrated robotic technology.
According to a news release, this procedure, performed by neurosurgeon Dr. Sharad Rajpal, is an update to the Mazor Robotic Guidance System involving Midas Rex high-speed navigated drills. The drills integrate with interbody tools to perform more accurate and efficient spine surgery.
Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville was the first hospital in Colorado to host the new procedure, and Rajpal was one of three surgeons nationwide who became the first to use the latest technology platform on Dec. 18, according to the release.
“It’s an integrated platform where you have a robotic guidance arm so we could place hardware such as screws into his spine, and also allow us to perform something called an interbody fusion,” Rajpal said. “That’s never really been done before with the robotic platform.”
“This platform is really a game-changer in terms of where we are with executing, planning, and being able to provide our patients with better care.”
The procedure, known as an L2/3 decompression fusion and Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion, was performed on Westwater, and he was discharged from the hospital within a few days of surgery.
Rajpal said Westwater has a lot of arthritis and degeneration in his back, and his anatomy is very distorted compared to the average person. With the new system, Rajpal said they were able to see Westwater’s anatomy in real time and he was able to execute and plan the surgery more precisely, accurately and efficiently.
“I was discharged from the hospital I think in two days, just about as quick as I could be,” Westwater said. “I’m very encouraged at this point and so is my physical therapist. He’s quite impressed with my progress, and I guess at my relatively advanced age he was not expecting that either.”
Rajpal said he has a lot of experience in robotic spinal surgeries, but Westwater was the first patient he operated on using the new integrated robotic technology. Since Westwater, Rajpal said he’s performed 10 more surgeries with the advanced platform.
“I believe this technology allows surgeons to perform spinal procedures better than we ever have previously by allowing more concise planning and execution in the operating room,” Rajpal said in the release. “The ability to improve outcomes and safety for our patients is tremendous.”
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