Baltimore Examiner, Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Sometimes the best tool for surgery can be the table the patient lies on.

Dr. Joe Ciotola, orthopedic surgeon at Mercy Medical Center, is improving hip and knee replacement recovery times with a new device called the Hana table. Looking more like a piece of exercise machinery, the Hana table allows doctors to manipulate the patient’s legs to avoid extensive muscle tissue damage while better exposing the joint.

“The majority of the recovery from the traditional hip replacement is not the bone, but the muscle rejoining the bone”. Ciotola said. “Most operating tables, when a patient comes in for a hip replacement surgery, they’re lying on their back or more commonly on their side.”

That is not the best position for the patient or the doctor, he said. The Hana table, manufactured by OSI Products, features adjustable arms that grip the feet and can be positioned where doctors need them.

Many patients are walking about in just 48 hours after this surgery, he said, and within 10 days are “completely free to do whatever they want.” In traditional hip replacements, patients can not bend over or cross their legs in a chair for up to two to three months following surgery.

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