Making a Difference: With CHRISTUS and MAKO
“You can make some of the biggest differences in somebody’s life,” Dr. Chistopher Meltsakos said. “To be able to see somebody at the worst of their worst and then in a few months, hitting records and seeing them at the best they’ve ever been, that’s the most rewarding and the driving part.”
At CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Sulphur Springs, making a difference is exactly what their goal is and with the help of both Dr. Christopher Meltsakos and MAKO Smart Robotics, they’ve been able to do exactly that.
Since using MAKO Smart Robotics and offering MAKO Robotic-Arm Assisted Technology, CHRISTUS has seen a huge difference with their patients. The technology assists with both knee and hip replacements and helps in every facet, from the surgery itself, to the recovery process with the patients.
In early 2025, CHRISTUS passed the milestone of their 500th MAKO assisted joint replacement, and Dr. Meltsakos was nice enough to sit down and talk with us, to tell us both about the milestone and more about the procedure itself.
“We do a lot of joint replacements, hips and knees and shoulders, and that’s typically what the MAKO robot is used for,” Meltsakos said. “We started initially with knee replacements, using the software for it and then subsequently with hips.”
“The robotic assist for knees and hips is largely that we’re using a computer to help us plant the implants,” Meltsakos explained. “The saw we use for surgery is mounted to a robotic arm, so it allows for more accurate cuts. It’s like a cutting block essentially.”
With a sample size of more than 500 assisted joint replacements, Meltsakos said “It is more accurate and that’s where that’s been helpful, both for patients and for the positioning of implants.”
Dr. Meltsakos and CHRISTUS have seen nothing but positive results and wanted to further explain how it works. “It will help for people to know what it really is, because it sounds super fancy and can sound confusing, but it is really helpful.”
“It’s a tool that helps to kind of plan surgery and help do it,” Meltsakos added. “It’s not as invasive as people might think and it’s super helpful for implant placement, planning your surgery and getting you moving early.”
“The joint replacement program here has grown nicely over the past few years,” Meltsakos continued. “We now do a joint replacement class prior to surgery as well, that helps to prepare people for surgery. I think all of that, in addition to the robotic assist, has really helped, because the more that we can go over the same things, the better people do.”
“We just want to make sure that patients have as seamless of a transition from pre-op to post-op as possible,” Meltsakos said. “Patients have been happy with it and they’re doing really well, they have been very satisfied.”
For both CHRISTUS and Dr. Meltsakos, their dedication to making a difference doesn’t stop there. They are committed to making a positive difference in the community, including working with Sulphur Springs ISD Athletics, as well as surrounding schools.
“That was actually one of the bigger draws for me,” Meltsakos said. “To be able to offer something to the area that we really didn’t have prior to this, which was a sports program that does community outreach.”
“It’s awesome to be able to help from that perspective,” Meltsakos added. “It keeps people in our community from not having to drive to Dallas or Tyler to get the same care they were before.
When I started, it was the beginning of the program here, we didn’t have a sports program prior to that, so that was kind of built upon from the start there and we’ve seen the expansion pretty nicely. We had one athletic trainer to start, and now we have three positions here in the clinic that outreach to the surrounding schools.”
One of the things I wanted to ask Dr. Meltsakos about, was specifically how rewarding it is to make such a difference for this community, both among adults and student athletes.
“From a patient care perspective, you can make some of the biggest difference in somebody’s life, ya know? It’s not life or death for most patients, but it’s quality of life. Especially when you look at these young athletes, in their prime, this is their world. Football, soccer, baseball, whatever their sport is, they live, breathe and die this, so to be able to see somebody at the worst of their worst, and then in a few months, hitting records and at the best they’ve ever been, that’s the most rewarding and driving part.”
“And the same can be applied to our older population,” he added. “You see with older patients, knees and hips can be really debilitating. You see people come in with wheelchairs, barely able to walk and then two weeks post-op they’re like ‘I’ve got no cane, I’ve got no wheelchair!’ that’s the part I really enjoy.”
“Helping a general population is so rewarding,” he concluded. “You’re part of your community. You get patients, whether they’re 98 or eight, and you get them back to doing the things they want to be able to do.”
“Being here and being able to do that, you see families. Entire families. You’ll see MeMaw and then you’ll seen mom and then the kid. And hopefully, God willing, I’m able to see some of the kid’s kid’s, you know? That would be a really rewarding experience.”
