It starts with your parent's own joint
A CT scan becomes a 3D model of your parent's knee or hip, and the surgeon plans the new joint part on it - its size, its position, its angle.
You are considering a robotic joint replacement.
This page helps you decide whether it is the right choice.
Is robotic surgery right for my parent?
Robotic surgery suits many people who need a knee or hip replaced. Whether it is right for your parent depends on their joint, their health, and what matters most to them - not on the technology alone.
Is a machine doing the surgery?
Your surgeon performs the operation. The robot is a tool in the surgeon's hands, guiding each step to a plan made for your parent's joint.
Is robotic surgery worth the extra cost?
Robotic surgery usually costs more than conventional surgery, the kind done without a robot. Whether that difference is worth it for your family is a fair question - this page sets out what the extra cost pays for, so you can decide for yourself.
Will this page actually help us decide?
It explains
what the robot actually does in the operating theatre
what it means for your parent's recovery
what the higher cost buys
Dr. Ramneek Mahajan on whether robotic surgery is really needed - in his own words (1 min watch).
By the end, you should know whether robotic is right for your parent - or whether conventional surgery serves them just as well.
How does robotic surgery work?
If the surgeon is doing the operation, what is the robot for?
Three things - it plans the operation, it guides each step, and it keeps every cut inside that plan. The surgeon leads all of it.
In the operating theatre, the robot guides
It guides every cut to the plan
The surgeon makes the cuts by hand; the robotic arm keeps each one within the limits the surgeon has set.
The surgeon stays in control
The robot follows a plan; it does not make one. It measures and steadies each step - the judgement, and the decisions, stay the surgeon's.
Watch how the robot builds the plan and guides each cut, from CT scan to the operating theatre. (3 min)
Whether it changes your parent's recovery is a separate question - and honestly, the answer is not the same for everyone.
What does recovery look like?
What will recovery actually look like for my parent?
Robotic surgery changes the operation, not the weeks that follow it. There is still healing, still physiotherapy, still effort - and it goes differently for every parent.
Recovery is work, not a shortcut
A new joint has to settle in, and the rehabilitation afterwards does much to shape how much mobility your parent gets back. The robot can make the surgery more precise; it cannot do the recovery for them. Physiotherapy is the biggest part of it within your control.
What the robot changes, and what it does not
The robot's job is to place the new joint accurately and in good alignment - which is mostly about how the joint holds up over the years, not how fast recovery goes. Whether robotic makes the recovery itself easier is not settled: some patients are up and moving comfortably in the early days, but that owes as much to modern anaesthesia and gentle early movement as to the robot.
Early days
First steps, usually with a walker and someone alongside.
The weeks after
Walking further and more steadily, with physiotherapy leading.
Throughout
The pace is your parent's own - their age, health, and whether one joint or both.
Dr. Ramneek Mahajan on what robotic surgery changes about recovery, and what it does not (under 1 min).
What matters here is simpler: the robot can help with the operation, but the recovery is still your parent's to do.
Why Dr. Mahajan?
Why Dr Ramneek Mahajan for robotic surgery?
One good sign in a robotic surgeon is simple: other surgeons come to him to learn it. His record, and the press, show why.
2,000+ robotic joint replacements
Hindustan Times
his robotic hip programme and Mako series
Business Today
robotic surgery, with the honest trade-offs
Training
The robotic training centre where he teaches visiting surgeons
What do families say about robotic surgery experience?
Does it actually help? Hear it from people who chose it.
Not our claims - their own recordings. Families who weighed the same question and went ahead, on the knee and the hip.
These videos are published on Max Healthcare's official YouTube channel. Each patient's experience is unique - outcomes depend on individual health, disease characteristics, and clinical factors. These accounts are not a guarantee of results.
What does the journey look like?
What actually happens, from the first visit onwards?
- Consult and plan
Your part: bring the scans and history. From these, the team builds the 3D surgical plan.
- Pre-op checks
A few health checks and clearance. Your part: line up some help at home for the early weeks, and time off work.
- Day of surgery
The plan guides the robotic arm within set limits, and the surgeon performs the operation.
- Going home
Most people are up with support soon after, need only a short hospital stay, and head home once the team clears them.
- Recovery and follow-up
Physiotherapy is arranged from the start, and follow-up visits check progress at set points.
What's the cost and value?
What does it cost, and is it worth it?
There's no single price - every case is different. Here's what shapes it, and how the team keeps it clear for you.
What shapes the cost
The implant chosen for the joint
Tests before surgery
The robotic technology itself
If infection is the cause
When infection is the reason, it usually has to be cleared before a new joint can go in - often as two operations with a wait in between, rather than one. That makes it the longest path, and usually the most expensive. If infection is a possibility, plan for it early.
What insurance covers, and what varies
Most of the hospital package for a revision is set by insurance. The one part that varies is the implant - what the joint needs (how much bone is left, the ligaments) differs from case to case, so its cost does too.
If you have health insurance, the practice's insurance team helps you check all of this before admission:
Your policy benefits - what your plan covers for a revision.
Cashless eligibility - whether the hospital can bill your insurer directly.
Any out-of-pocket cost - what, if anything, you would pay yourself.
That way, you know where you stand before you decide.
Cost is a real part of this decision. Ask for the full picture early, so the money is something you can plan for - not something that catches you later.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I safely wait?
The questions worth asking before you decide - and when waiting is the right call, and when it is not.
Before we meet
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What should I expect, step by step?
The whole path, stage by stage - getting ready, the day itself, recovery, physio, life after.
Patient journey
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Where did he train?
Fellowships, years in practice, and international experience
Credentials and experience
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