New Options For Hip And Knee Arthritis

Posted on

Dec 01, 2011

Book/Edition

Colorado - Colorado Springs

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Individuals suffering from hip and knee arthritis have more options than ever to help reduce or eliminate pain and improve their quality of life. The general approach is conservative, non-operative management until that no longer provides adequate relief from pain. This may include anti-inflammatories, acetaminophen, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, bracing, use of a cane, or injection therapy.
If non-operative pain management does not relieve pain or no longer provides relief, there are several criteria that indicate it may be time to discuss operative management for hip or knee arthritis. These include:

1. If the individual is experiencing more pain than they care to deal with on a regular basis
2. If the arthritis symptoms are affecting the individual's quality of life
3. If the arthritis pain is keeping the individual from their normal daily activities.

A fourth, but definitive criteria is if the arthritis pain can only be controlled by narcotic pain medications. Narcotics are not an appropriate long-term treatment for arthritis pain, as narcotics create their own long-term issues and problems, including addiction, dependence, and also make it much more difficult to control post-operative pain.

The encouraging news is that there are several new developments in hip and knee replacement that make the surgery and recovery time much easier. The post-operative pain is minimized, and the recovery time is much shorter than before. We now offer minimally invasive hip replacement in which patients generally go home on the day of surgery, or the day after. Most patients are also off of narcotic pain medicines within two weeks, which is shorter than with traditional hip replacement.

Regarding knee replacement surgery, partial knee replacements (unicompartmental knee replacements, patellofemoral replacements) are an option for localized knee arthritis. These patients also have similar hospital stays and reduced narcotic usage as the minimally invasive hip replacement patients. With new developments in post-operative pain control, even standard knee replacements rarely require IV pain medicine. Also, virtually all standard knee replacement patients go home after spending only 2 nights in the hospital, and many patients are only spending one night in the hospital.

If you suffer from hip or knee arthritis, a visit with an orthopedic surgeon can provide options available to you to help improve your quality of life and reduce, or eliminate, pain. You may be surprised how easy it can be to take back control of your life!


Editor's Note: This article was submitted by Ed Szuszczewicz, MD. who is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in Joint Replacement and Trauma Surgery at Front Range Orthopedics' and may be reached at 719-473-3332. For more information visit Front Range Orthopedics at www.fro.com

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