Same Day Knee Replacement Now an Option
8/25/2017
(SPRINGDALE, AR) –Aug. 11, 2017— Imagine going to the hospital for a total knee replacement and leaving for the comfort of your own home the same day. This is exactly what Ronnie Rogers recently experienced.
Rogers decided it was time to have his left knee replaced after several years of conservative treatments for arthritis. This past June, he became the first person to have a total knee replacement in an outpatient setting at Northwest Health Physicians’ Specialty Hospital in Fayetteville.
Rogers, who is 63 years old, has always been an active man with lots of interests. He has played baseball and softball since he was a child and recently played on a softball team with his daughter. He is also a fire marshal in Fort Smith who, in his free time, remodels houses.
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA), also referred to as total knee replacement, has traditionally been considered an inpatient surgical procedure. Recent innovative advances have enabled physicians at Northwest Health Physicians’ Specialty Hospital to perform them on an outpatient basis.
“We have been able to accelerate this process by modifying our surgical and anesthesia technique, improving pain management, and performing aggressive physical therapy that starts an hour after surgery,” Dr. Christopher Arnold, orthopedic surgeon at Advanced Orthopaedic Specialists, said.
Same day total joints are becoming the trend across the country for patients who meet pre-surgical screening criteria.
“As a hospital with a large population of orthopedic patients, it is important to remain on the leading edge of these trends to ensure our patients have the most advanced surgical options to get back to their lives as quickly as possible,” Dr. Arnold said.
Patients are more satisfied because of the increased convenience, shorter recovery time and reduced risk of infection. However, outpatient total joints are only suitable for a select patient population.
“Candidates for these procedures are those who are in good overall health, have an ideal body weight, good home support and are able to meet all of their goals while in the hospital,” Dr. Arnold said.
Rogers said his recovery went well at home. In addition to exercises, he used a continuous passive motion (CPM) machine six hours a day for 26 days. CPM is a way of providing regular movement to the knee using a machine.
“I think that really made a difference,” he said.
Three days after his surgery, Rogers could bend his leg at a 90 degree angle. After three weeks, he could bend his leg at a 120 degree angle.
“It’s doing a lot better,” he said, seven weeks after the surgery. “The biggest thing is keep it moving, and keep ice on it”
Rogers said that if he needed another knee replacement, he would want to do all the exact same way.
To learn more or find a Northwest Health orthopedic specialist, call (800) 734-2024.
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