Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press
msmith@currentargus.com

Sandra Trujillo had knee problems. She couldn’t even walk without hurting. Lucky for her, she was in the right place and she was there at the right time.

Trujillo works as a scheduler in the surgical services department at Artesia General Hospital and she was the first patient in southeast New Mexico to undergo a partial knee replacement using the revolutionary Mako robotic-arm surgery system introduced at the hospital a decade ago.

The now pain-free hospital employee, who suffered repeated cartilage damage playing sports, sang the praises of robotic-arm assisted surgery April 8 as Artesia General celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Bone and Joint Center.

“I would go home from work hurting,” Trujillo said. “That changed when I walked into the Bone and Joint Center. The procedure gave me my life back. I’m walking pain free.”

The Mako SmartRobotics system allows a surgeon to create a personalized surgical plan that can address the problems causing a patient’s pain while also protecting healthy bone, according to Stryker Corporation, a medical devices and manufacturing company in New Jersey.

Dr. Marshall Baca, an orthopedic surgeon at Artesia GeneraL, said the robotic system has improved quality of life for patients undergoing not only partial knee replacement but also total knee replacement and total hip replacement.

“They’re no longer inpatient, they don’t have to stay here for two or three days,” he said.

Dr. Joe Salgado, Artesia General’s CEO, said the opening of the Bone and Joint Center to provide specialized orthopedic care for southeast New Mexico residents was a landmark event for the hospital.

“We took a bit of a leap of faith 10 years ago,” he said. “The Bone and Joint Center defines what our mission is here at Artesia General Hospital.”

Artesia General is striving to be the medical treatment leader in southeastern New Mexico,” said orthopedic surgeon Baca.

“We are excited about the future … with plans of a new facility (and) new lines of service … and we will always be looking to improve, and we will always be looking to be ahead of the facilities that surround us north, south and east,” Baca said.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-308-8734 or email at msmith@currentargus.com.