Kicking knee pain to the curb

Kari Gonzalez, 64, doesn’t let her age get in the way of working out. The avid CrossFit® member and kickboxer wasn’t going to let knee pain hold her back, either.

“My workout group is my community,” she said. “It feeds my soul. I kept pushing through the pain until I couldn’t any longer.”

New knee replacement surgery technique for a workout warrior

Intense exercise is part of Gonzalez’s DNA. She even has a tattoo of a kettlebell on her thigh.

Gonzalez had surgery for a torn meniscus in 2018, but the knee pain came back with vengeance, making simple mainstays of a strength training workout impossible.

“I couldn’t even squat anymore,” she said. “I tried wrapping my knee and modifying exercises, but the pain became unbearable.”

A visit to her family physician resulted in a referral to Dennis Chen, MD, an orthopedic surgeon with Baptist Orthopedics at Baptist Medical Center Nassau.

Dr. Chen performed knee surgery robotically with an approach that spares the quadriceps tendon. Called “tourniquet-less subvastus robotic-assisted total knee replacement,” the procedure combines tissue preservation, robotic precision, and the absence of a tight thigh tourniquet to reduce recovery pain and accelerate healing.

“Traditional knee replacement surgery involves cutting through the quadriceps tendon, which causes a lot of pain,” said Dr. Chen. With the subvastus approach, the surgeon goes under the thigh muscle and moves it aside to reach the knee rather than cutting through the tendon. Patients don’t need a thigh tourniquet, eliminating pressure on nerves and blood vessels.

“The technique results in a quicker recovery early on, giving patients more confidence to move and heal faster,” said Dr. Chen. Many patients, like Gonzalez, can go home the same day of surgery.

Feeling stronger every day

Dr. Chen now uses the subvastus approach for the vast majority of his knee replacement patients. He also does minimally invasive anterior hip replacements, a procedure that also spares muscle and speeds recovery.

“I’m feeling stronger every day,” said Gonzalez. “Dr. Chen provided me with a personalized program with exercise videos and healing regimens. I followed his advice religiously and didn’t even need prescription pain medication.”

Two months after surgery, Gonzalez was able to take walks and ride a stationary bike and has been adding more activities since. She’s returned to kickboxing and looks forward to restarting CrossFit soon, with a few modifications.

“Dr. Chen understood how important it was to get back working out, and he created a plan to make that happen. He even called to check on me the day after surgery when I got home,” said Gonzalez.

Dr. Chen became interested in orthopedics after breaking his ankle in a freak accident in the grocery store when he was in fourth grade. “That was a life-changing event that sparked my interest in orthopedic surgery,” he recalled.

Gonzalez is thankful that Dr. Chen followed his calling.

“He took a personal interest in my healing and was quick to answer my follow-up questions. I'm so grateful I found him right here in Nassau County and that he had a solution that reduced pain and sped my recovery.”

With locations throughout northeast Florida, the experts at Baptist Orthopedics can help if you are experiencing joint pain. To learn more, visit BaptistJax.com/Ortho or call 904.202.6683.