From Danville Regional Health System
Better Health Magazine Archives

Those who grew up playing with marbles would be surprised to learn that something similar is helping to restore hand movement and relieve pain for people suffering from arthritis! Ronald Hodges, M.D., and orthopedic surgeon at Danville Orthopedic Clinic and a amember of Danville Regional Medical Center's medical staff, is the first hand surgeon in Virginia to implant the OrthoSphere™, a new material that resembles a ceramic marble.

For those with arthritis, movement is painful because the cartilage that cushions joints has deteriorated, causing bones to rub together. To restore the joint, orthopedic surgeons have traditionally performed a procedure called interposition arthroplasty. It requires the surgeon to remove a piece of tendon from the patient's arm, roll it into a ball and insert it through a three-inch incision at the base of the thumb. This provides padding to prevent the bones at the base of the thumb from rubbing together. "The problem is that the ball of tendon would eventually become dead tissue, which the body would absorb over time," said Dr. Hodges.

However, the OrthoSphere™, approved and released for use in July, allows this same procedure to be performed with more effective results. "Because the OrthoSphere™ is made of ceramic, it will last the patient's lifetime," said Dr. Hodges. "It's about 9 to 12 millimeters in diameter, depending on the size the patient needs, and it essentially acts like a ball bearing."

The OrthoSphere™ can be inserted into a small, one-inch incision at the base of the thumb. Because the incision is smaller and there is no need to remove a piece of tendon from the arm, recovery with the OrthoSphere™ requires only about five to six weeks, as opposed to the three months required for the original procedure. "The OrthoSphere™ converts an hour and a half operation into a 30-minute procedure," said Dr. Hodges. "As a result, patients need a lot less physical therapy, making it a good procedure for pain relief."