Same-day joint replacement revolutionising surgery: Experts

A group of orthopedic surgeons on Friday said same-day joint replacement is revolutionising surgical experience. On Friday, the surgeons took part in an online panel discussion curated by DH Brandspot and Manipal Hospitals, Varthur, where they spoke on surgical advances in joint replacement.

During the discussion, consultant orthopedic surgeon Dr Sanjay Hegde said arthritis that impairs the knee is not a single disease, but an informal reference to joint pain or joint disease.

“The most common is osteoarthritis in which a joint cartilage wears off. There’s also rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease in which your immune system attacks your own joints, and then there are secondary arthritis like post-traumatic ones.

“After an injury, the cartilage wears off when there is joint fracture or damage because of an infection,” Dr Hegde said.

Dr Y S Shivakumar, consultant orthopedic surgeon, said reproducing the original joint is the main objective of a knee replacement surgery.

“Most of the patients coming for knee replacement have diabetes and hypertension. We need to optimise the patient to near-normal levels in various parameters and then consider the case for surgery. We open the joint and put the implant in proper alignment. The axis and rotation are critical,” Dr Shivakumar said.

Consultant orthopedic surgeon Dr Raghavendra Reddy said two to three days of hospital stay is generally sufficient for a patient.

“If the patient goes for unilateral knee replacement (or replacing just one knee), two days are enough. If both knees are replaced in the same sitting, three days of hospitalisation is required. The patient begins to walk on the same day or the next morning. Total recovery takes about two to three weeks,” Dr Reddy said.

Talking about day-care knee replacement, Dr R D Chakravarty, consultant orthopedic surgeon, said patients opting for it checks in in the morning and returns in the evening, unlike traditional surgery.

“A quick turnout makes it possible to serve more patients, besides reducing the cost as the number of surgeries increase. The hospital becomes cost-effective. Patients admitted for a week or 10 days get anxious,” Dr Chakravarty said.