Otter Tail County Man Is One of First to Receive ROSA Surgery in Midwest

The surgical assistant is helping doctors at Sanford perform knee replacement surgeries

FARGO, N.D.– With every step Roger Peterson is getting closer and closer to recovery.

“As far as I’m concerned, I am walking as close to normal as you can get,” Peterson said.

Roger had his knee replacement surgery about a month ago.

The surgical assistant was a robot named ROSA.

“We lock that in for that patient and the robot will come in and assist us in making the cuts to ensure we accurately reproduce the plan that we actually scheduled for that patient,” Sanford orthopedic surgeon Dr. Todd Sekundiak said.

Peterson was one of the first patients at Sanford who had a ROSA surgery.

The robot lets doctors complete pre–op planning, size patients for implants and make accurate cuts.

“It should ultimately mean that our incisions and kind of fussing around in the knee to get things correct should be less,” Dr. Sekundiak said.

Patients like Roger are reaping the benefits of this technology.

Roger says he used a walker for the first day but after that he was good to go on his own.

“I’m a very competitive person so no do the stiffness and soreness and things like that bother me? No it really becomes a challenge to me I guess to kind of show what a person can do,” Peterson said.

With regular physical therapy sessions Roger is getting the guidance he needs to feel good and to bounce back at 69–years old.

“They push you a little more each time,” Peterson said. “Today was probably the most strenuous one that I’ve had.”

A surgery with ROSA takes about an hour.

The goal is to get the perfect fit.

“People who couldn’t walk now can walk,” Dr. Sekundiak said. “People who can’t do their golf game, pick up their grandkids can now do all of that and with ROSA we are trying to take that to the next step further and allowing people to do those activities without even knowing they have a knee replacement.”

Roger has physical therapy sessions scheduled for the next two weeks.

He says doctors will reevaluate him after that time.