Northside Hospital Orthopedics was the first provider in the state to use a new procedure for knee surgery.
Dr. Timilehin Wusu performed the MISHA, or Medial Implantable Shock Absorber for the Knee, system last month. MISHA is a medical device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat medial compartment knee osteoarthritis, or OA.
The shock-absorbing implant helps reduce knee pain and improve function in patients with knee OA. It is produced by Moximed Inc.
“I’ve had patients complain to me for years that there’s got to be something that can be done to help reverse their arthritis,” Dr. Wusu said.
“These were always active, young-at-heart people that didn’t want to give up their active lifestyle and weren’t ready to concede to a total knee (replacement). With the MISHA, I finally have something to offer them. It doesn’t reverse the arthritis, but it does effectively reverse their knee pain, while allowing them to be as active as they want to be.
“And even better, it preserves their sense of youthful vigor.”
Osteoarthritis develops when the protective cartilage that cushions the bones at the end of the joint wears down over time, causing pain and swelling during normal movement. Symptomatic knee OA is common, experienced by about 18 million Americans, over half of whom are of working age. However, there is a major treatment gap for adults with mild to moderate knee OA: surgeons and patients lack options when non-surgical conservative care has failed, but the patient is ineligible for, or unwilling to undergo, total knee replacement surgery.
The implantable shock absorber reportedly reduces peak forces on the knee by more than 30% with every step and requires no cutting of the bone. The procedure also maintains the articulating cartilage surfaces of the knee.
Dr. Wusu performed the surgery at Northside Hospital Duluth on a 54-year-old woman.
Learn more about orthopedic care at Northside.
