Dr. Kenneth Sands Performs Ground Breaking Knee Replacement Surgeries, Receives High Praise From Patients

Patients Receive Knee Implant, Able to Walk Right After Procedure is completed

ABOVE VIDEO: Karen of Palm Bay, Florida talks about First Choice Medical Group Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Ken Sands’ outstanding treatment. For more information call 321-725-2225 or log on to www.myfcmg.com

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Miracles do happen. Just ask Dr. Kenneth Sands’ patient, who walked on his own power after going through total knee replacement, in an outpatient setting, no less. Advances in technology and techniques have made the procedure radically different than it was even just a decade ago.

“When I first started practicing, knee replacements lasted about 10 years, so younger patients were typically injected with steroids and asked to limp along and wait another 20 and 30 years,” said Sands, who practices with First Choice Medical Group in Melbourne. “It made for a lousy quality of life.”

Patients back then were also required to enter the hospital for five days or more. However, that was then. Things are very, very different now, thankfully.

Sands’ patient noted above is in his 40s, and should expect to enjoy decades of good knees, thanks to the new Journey II XR knee implant, which has been FDA approved to last 30 years. The patient received the implant in an ambulatory care center and was able to walk – with a walker’s help, of course – right after the procedure.

The Journey II XR Active Knee System represents a new chapter in high performance because it is designed to restore the stability and natural motion of the human knee.

Other implants affect knee mobility so the joint moves forward abnormally, causing anterior knee pain. The secret of the success of Journey II XR lies not just in the addition of the new implant, but also in the manner in which it is placed.

“This is total knee replacement that does not cut any of the four major ligaments, unlike with traditional implants, in which one or two ligaments are cut,” said Sands. “It provides for a more natural feel.”

In the procedure, Sands trims away all the arthritic sections of the knee without touching the major ligaments.

The concept of leaving ligaments untouched as optimal treatment is not new, but other implants were not designed for it. In March of this year, First Choice Medical Group was selected for the roll-out of the Journey II XR. Smith & Nephew, a global medical technology company, created this platform to empower patients to “rediscover normal” following total knee arthroplasty.

For more information call 321-725-2225 or log on to www.myfcmg.com

Performed in Outpatient Setting

While the procedure can be effectively performed in an outpatient surgery setting, certain restrictions apply, depending on age. Patients need to be under the enrollment age for Medicare for total knee replacement in an ambulatory care center, since Medicare does not pay for outpatient total knee replacement.

Appropriate candidates for the Journey II XR should have functioning ligaments. “If the ligaments are already faulty, the patient has already adjusted his gait,” said Sands.

Conventional knee implants attempt to recreate the fluid motion of the knee with either a simple pivot point within the implant or by requiring an angled alignment of the implant during surgery. The problem is that this forces the muscle around the joint to work harder to compensate for the new movement patterns.

To compensate for the loss of stability that occurs when anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments that are removed to accommodate the new implant during transplant surgery, conventional transplants rely on a plastic insert.

The Journey II XR, on the other hand, features an anatomically shaped femoral component and two plastic inserts to better replicate normal knee motion, and thus the muscles and soft tissue around the knee don’t have to adjust and return to a natural pattern of motion almost immediately after surgery.

The Journey II XR is indicated for patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis, failed osteotomies or unicompartmental replacement.

The shape of this revolutionary implant fits around the ligaments, allowing the latter to remain in place.

For more information call 321-725-2225 or log on to www.myfcmg.com

Total Hip Replacement

Dr. Sands is the first surgeon in Florida to be trained and certified to perform ACL-sparing total knee replacements. In addition to knee replacement, at First Choice Medical Group, Dr. Sands specializes in minimally invasive total hip replacement, total hip resurfacing, and computer-assisted total joint replacement.

A graduate of Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Dr. Sands earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University and completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at State University of New York in Brooklyn and a fellowship in orthopaedic joint replacement surgery at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute in Tampa.

He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and is a member of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Prior to joining First Choice Medical Group, Dr. Sands helped to develop a nationally recognized total joint center of excellence in Rome, Georgia, and served as its medical director.

A veteran of the United States Army, Dr. Sands directed the adult joint reconstruction program at William Beaumont Army Medical Center and was part of the faculty at Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Medicine in El Paso, Texas, and served as a director of the Floyd Medical Center Total Joint Center of Excellence.

First Choice Medical Group is a multi-specialty, clinically superior medical group focusing on the delivery of musculoskeletal medicine and rehabilitative care through a patient-centered approach that optimizes both medical outcomes and the patients’ care experience.

For more information call 321-725-2225 or log on to www.myfcmg.com

TIMELY APPOINTMENTS

Appointments are scheduled in a timely manner without extended waiting periods.

The Center of Excellence model used by First Choice Healthcare Solutions revolves around dovetailed services that encourage multidisciplinary collaboration between specialties, including Orthopaedics, Neurology, Spine Surgery, Interventional Pain Medicine, Radiology and Physical and Occupational Therapies.

Approaching pain treatment effectively and with compassion, First Choice delivers state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic technologies in one location.

First Choice Medical Group’s services cover a broad range of modalities and diagnostic capabilities, including, but not limited to, Orthopaedic surgery, total joint replacement/restoration, fracture care, sports medicine, neurology, balance and movement disorders, physical therapy, occupational therapy, interventional pain management, MRI and X-Ray.

Through thorough patient education from diagnosis and treatment to rehabilitation, all patients are encouraged to become active participants in their own care. Advanced care and monitoring of long-term effects of treatment assure continued health.

Such a comprehensive approach to Musculoskeletal care has drawn significant interest from the medical field, from insurers eager to offer positive patient outcomes at the most efficient cost and from communities weary of patchwork treatment.

First Choice Medical Group is located at 709 S. Harbor City Boulevard, Suite 100, in Melbourne, Florida. For more information, call 321-725-2225 or log on to www.myfcmg.com

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