BETTENDORF, Iowa — A UnityPoint Health - Trinity doctor is using an innovative procedure to improve recovery after a knee replacement surgery.
Dr. Maruti Kari in the hospital's pain management clinic uses the Iovera procedure about a month before those surgeries. It can also be used for arthritis and sports injury treatment, he said.
"It's a minimally invasive procedure that allows us to freeze nerves," Kari said.
That procedure uses a hand-held device with a needle to freeze about five nerves around the knee. Each freeze lasts for 60 to 90 seconds and is only done once in an in-office, outpatient care setting, Kari said.
"We do this prior to the knee surgery and it last about four months, so it covers three months of post-op pain after the surgery is done," he said. "It takes about 20 minutes, patients walk out and that's it."
The device's size helps make this procedure much more practical for both doctors and patients, Kari said.
"What we used to do ten years ago was very bulky," he said. "We had to take the patient into the operating rooms. The patient would have to be sedated. So, it was not a quick and easy procedure."
It also has other benefits, like patients needing fewer prescription opioid pain medication after surgery, he said.
"The decrease in the pain medication usage because of the pain relief this allows the patients to get, allows them to participate in physical therapy better," Kari said.
That also means fewer drugs could be misused, and Kari said this procedure helps doctors control the opioid epidemic.
Iovera has seen demand at the hospital since Kari introduced it as a pain management option.
"To my knowledge, we are the only providers doing this procedure in the Quad City area," Kari said. "In my career I have not seen anything as successful as Iovera has been."
Kari said there are very few side effects associated with this procedure. He expects this same medical technology could be used for other joint replacement surgeries in the future.
The Iovera procedure is typically only offered to people with Medicare insurance, Kari said. However, you can contact the hospital's pain management clinic to find out more information and see if you qualify for the procedure.