A New Thumb Implant is changing the game for Arthritis Patients at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands

Brannon King prefers to spend at least 3-4 days a week on the golf course in Conroe. That is, until a battle with arthritis was making the sport he loves almost unplayable.

According to Dr. Mark Ciaglia, orthopedic and hand surgeon with Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center, arthritis plagues patients’ hands constantly. Arthritis can make the simplest tasks, such as turning a door knob – or in King’s case, gripping a golf club – extremely painful.

“It is a very common form of arthritis for patients to develop at the base of their thumb, and have significant discomfort with pinching and gripping,” Dr. Ciaglia said. “There’s a multitude of procedures that have been utilized to treat this. Some vary in efficiency, and some vary in complexity and length of recovery. Some are done with implants and some are done with soft tissue reconstruction.”

King had avoided surgery for a number of years in favor of getting shots in his hand to numb the pain. But when that was no longer working, he knew he had to do something else.

Thankfully, Dr. Ciaglia has become one of only a handful of surgeons in the country to learn a new technique to bring relief to patients suffering from hand arthritis. The procedure, known as the Keri TOUCH procedure, is thumb implant that acts like a total hip replacement for the thumb.

“The advantages of this procedure are multifactorial,” Dr. Ciaglia said. “The recovery time is so much shorter compared to the traditional procedure. Patients are in a small bandage for only a week and are using their hand immediately thereafter. They’re in a small brace for two or three weeks following, and then return to normal activity following that. Patients actually feel so good that they want to get back to activity before they’re fully healed.”

Watch the video interview, courtesy of Memorial Hermann, here:

Dr. Ciaglia added that golfers in particular can wear this joint out quite readily. King was the second patient in Houston to get this procedure and it was a resounding success. Eliminating King’s pain is what prompted him to want to get back on the course so quickly.

Other surgical options could leave patients with an immobilized hand and wrist for up to six months. But with Dr. Ciaglia’s new technique available to patients in the Greater Houston Area, the recovery is cut down to a matter of weeks.

“This one is next,” King said, pointing to his right thumb before heading out to the driving range.

Source: Memorial Hermann

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