Recovery from Minimally Invasive Joint Surgery

It's the same in New York, Chicago, and Tupelo, Mississippi

There has been so much press from all over the country about the speed to recover from surgery. Patient expectations are all over the map.

A former student of mine told me that his mother from New York was thinking of traveling to Chicago because she saw on the news and read on the Internet that there was a doctor there who send people home the same day of surgery after total knee replacement.

I told her to save her airfare. Last I looked, Chicago was not populated from geniuses from the planet Krypton to save mankind but rather had the same number of intelligent and concerned doctors that are present in nearly every community in this country.

So what is the deal here?

First of all, the surgery:

Absolute fact: certain types of techniques related to minimally invasive approaches to knee and hip replacement will give you decreased pain and faster return to function than a traditional method.

Absolute fact: The Orthopaedic community is in complete internal disagreement as to exactly what the term "minimally invasive surgery" means.

Absolute fact: At 6 months the results of minimally invasive and traditional techniques are the same in terms of function BUT the minimally invasive techniques CURRENTLY have higher complications.

Absolute fact: As we learn more about the successes and failures of various minimally invasive techniques, the better and safer ones will emerge and dominate the surgical landscape. Currently there is no agreement as to which is the best.

Absolute fact: If you see a surgeon from anywhere in the country- whether that is Chicago or Ocala, Florida - on the television then one of three things has occurred:

1. The surgeon's presence was somehow paid for a joint replacement company
2. The surgeon's hospital has media connections
3. A publicist set this up

Just in case you haven't noticed - network media is far from balanced or fair in its reporting. This does not mean the story you saw was inaccurate. It just does not necessarily come from a balanced source.

Recovery from any joint surgery is generally dependent upon:

1. The attitude of the patient
2. The pain perceived by the patient
3. The patient's own healing abilities
4. The healing support provided by the joint surgeon and team- this means proper pain management, home care services, and most importantly education on expectations.
5. Patient adherence to post-operative guidelines
6. Patient's own internal definitions of "healed."

In general- you will heal- it is the general path the body always wants to take.

Dr. K.

Related Topics: Patients Rate Knee, Hip Replacement,Joint Camp: Where Boomers Get Knees, Hips Replaced (WebMD Video)

Technorati Tags: knee replacement, hip replacement