When It Comes to Treating Arthritic Thumbs, Like the Hip and Knee, Thumb Basal Joint Replacement May Soon be the Gold Standard
Thanks to current advancements in surgical techniques and joint-implant technology for treatments for painful osteoarthritis of the thumb, “we are getting much closer to the ideal,” says Miami-based orthopedic surgeon Alejandro Badia MD. “The future is now.”
Dr. Badia, a well-recognized hand and upper-limb specialist, is using the BioPro® Modular Thumb Implant to provide patients significant pain relief and restore full movement and gripping and pinch strength to their thumbs. He notes that the implant matches the thumb’s natural anatomy, is readily inserted as an outpatient joint replacement procedure, maintains the length and cosmetic appearance of the thumb and is effective in returning function to the patient’s hand.
“Newer implants like the BioPro® are overcoming the tendencies of older prosthetic versions to fracture, dislocate, or simply fail to relieve pain and improve thumb function. Equally important, clinical experience shows this advanced implant reduces time spent in surgery and cuts patient hand recovery time by as much as 10 weeks over what has been the ‘gold standard’ for surgical correction of the arthritic thumb, namely LRTI,” says Dr. Badia, founder and chief medical officer of the Badia Hand to Shoulder Center and OrthoNOW®.