Robots will be used to carry out hip and knee surgery in the first clinical trial of its kind in Wales. The state-of-the art robots will be put to the test in a trial which is being funded through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and delivered in partnership with Hywel Dda University Health Board.
Joint replacement surgery is one of the most common operations performed by the NHS, and the aim of the trial is to determine whether using robots will result in better outcomes for patients. You can get the latest WalesOnline newsletters e-mailed to you directly for free by signing up here.
The surgery works with the use of a robotic arm which helps to prepare the bone and inserts components to a pre-programmed three-dimensional plan. It is hoped that using the robot will enable more precise and consistent surgical techniques, which could potentially prevent poor outcomes and complications that result in a patient requiring further surgery.
