Brampton woman receives 1,000th robot-assisted surgery at one of few hospitals in Ontario with the technology

Earlier this month, Kanwal Walia stood up and slowly walked the halls of the hospital just hours after robot-assisted knee surgery–the second one for her and the 1,000th procedure of its kind at Brampton Civic Hospital. 

Before the milestone procedure, Walia said she couldn’t walk and had been “crawling like a little child.” 

Now, just a few weeks out from surgery, she and her husband, Jesse Walia, are planning a summer trip to India and celebrating the welcome new normal that has come after years of debilitating knee pain. 

“Since 2009, I’ve had a problem. Whenever I’d go to the doctor, they said they couldn’t do [surgery] on a woman my age,” Kanwal tells INsauga.com. 

After years of discomfort, Kanwal was referred to Dr. John Harrington, the corporate division head of orthopaedic surgery at the William Osler Health System-operated hospital. 

“He was really nice and he explained everything and he was ready to do the procedure on both legs,” Jesse says.

Kanwal is one of a growing number of patients in Ontario to undergo knee replacement with a robotic surgical assistant (better known as ROSA). Developed by American medical device company Zimmer Biomet, ROSA assists surgeons in performing total knee replacement procedures by enhancing precision, allowing a more ‘custom’ approach better suited to each individual’s anatomy and, ideally, cutting down recovery time. 

Michael Clair was the first patient to undergo a robot-assisted total knee replacement surgery at Brampton Civic Hospital in 2023 and now, the hospital remains one of only three in Ontario that’s utilizing the technology and the only one in the Greater Toronto Area (other hospitals using ROSA include Humber River Hospital and North York General Hospital, which are both in Toronto). 

Harrington, who performed Kanwal’s surgery, says that ROSA was available primarily in the United States for about two years before making its way to Canada. Brampton Civic is the 10th hospital in Canada to use it. 

As for how it works compared to traditional methods, Harrington tells INsauga.com that ROSA allows surgeons to transition from a one-size-fits-all approach that might include more cutting (and therefore more pain and swelling) to a more patient-specific procedure that gets people on their feet faster. 

“With ROSA, we can make more accurate and more patient-specific measurements unique to their knee. It’s a more personalized approach that lets me use data from their knee to customize the cuts to make it more designed for them,” Harrington explains. 

“Once we’ve made the cuts, it’s one and done. We get more accurate positioning of implants, so we can make a better knee replacement for the patients. There’s less swelling, less pain and a faster recovery.” 

Kanwal says her recovery is progressing well and that while she’s still experiencing pain and more limited movement, she was surprised by how mobile she was shortly after her procedures. 

From left to right: Dr. Harrington, Kanwal Walia and Sakshi Sharma, physiotherapist

“I was on my feet right after. I exercised, I walked, I went to the washroom,” she says. 

Jesse agrees that her immediate mobility was a welcome relief. 

“Now she can go to the washroom independently,” he says, adding that she’s also doing physiotherapy at the hospital.

Harrington says that as of now, approximately 70 per cent of knee replacements at the hospital are conducted using ROSA. 

“We open the knee and we get data points that are fed into the robot. That info goes into ROSA and then we can come up with a personalized solution for their knee. Sometimes, we’d need to make more cuts before ROSA,” he says. 

For him, the difference between traditional and ROSA-involved surgeries is apparent. 

“I’ve personally done about close to 3,000 knee replacements prior to ROSA and as of [earlier this month], 356 knees with ROSA, and I can tell you from my experience that the patients are generally faster in recovery with less pain, less swelling and overall better patient outcomes,” he says, adding that some patients who have had one knee done with ROSA and another without tend to report better recoveries with robot-assisted procedures. 

“It can’t be totally pain or swelling-free, but they’re definitely recovering faster,” he says, adding that while it typically takes three-to-six months to recover from knee replacement surgery, some ROSA patients are almost walking normally after six weeks.

Jesse says that now that both knees have been replaced, Kanwal can walk more easily and her recovery is progressing a little faster than before. 

“Stairs are easier for her,” he says. “The first time, it took longer to recover. This time, she’s doing much better. Last time, it was two or three weeks she was dependent on the walker and wheelchair, now she has more movement.” 

Harrington expects ROSA, which he says is an adjunct to surgery and not a replacement for doctor-driven operations, to grow in use. 

“The robot is an adjunct to executing the procedure in a safe manner and it’ll become the standard of care in the future as the tech evolves over time,” he says. 

“We’re just using it for total knee replacements, but in the future, it could help with shoulder and hip replacement surgery. The future is bright, and I think robots are here to stay.” 

For Kanwal, the change has been extraordinary despite the ongoing–and expected–post-op pain. 

“Today, when I came back home, I walked up 14 stairs by myself. I want to walk and be a normal person, and I want to do exercises forever. It’s been very hard, so many years like this.”

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