Robotic surgery is an increasingly prevalent trend in orthopedics, with a new milestone being announced seemingly every week. Christopher McClellan, DO, orthopedic surgeon at University Orthopedics Center in Altoona, Pa., told "Becker's ASC Review Podcast" that he thinks it's sometimes valued more as a marketing tool than a medical technology.
Note: This is an edited excerpt. Listen to the full podcast episode here.
Question: What technologies in orthopedics are you most excited about today, and are there any that you feel are over-hyped or perhaps not quite ready for prime time?
Dr. McClellan: The things I'm most excited about are honestly not so much in orthopedics. … I think anesthesia is the big key. I think having new anesthesia techniques and new medicines that are emerging that allow quicker recoveries and less of all the things that patients are scared of are the biggest things that we can look forward to.
I think some things that are over-hyped are anything that increases the bottom line. We're trying to find ways to decrease the cost and spending. And I feel like some of these things we see in a lot of robotic surgery; I think it may have its role eventually, but right now it's costly and it hasn't really made a difference in any kind of major outcomes yet.
There's a lot of great surgeons out there who I think will eventually make a lot of great studies to see if this really is the future or not. But I think unfortunately some people use it as a marketing tool.