Joint replacement surgery is considered a last resort treatment option for arthritis pain management and restoring function to the affected joint. It is recommended when pain is no longer well-controlled and joint damage significantly affects quality of life. Typically, patients return to normal daily activities and function well. Patients who participated in sports before surgery likely can participate in low-impact sports following surgery.
Whether you have arthritis or an injury, joint replacement may help fix it. A joint replacement can help relieve the pain, and even restore most or all of the joint's range of motion the joint.
While nearly any joint can be replaced these days, the three most common types are still hips, knees and shoulder replacement.
Preparing for Your Joint Replacement Surgery
If you and your doctor have decided a joint replacement is the best option for you, there will be some basic preparation tasks you'll need to do prior to coming to the hospital. These include:
Stopping all vitamin supplementation and anti-inflammatory medications one to two weeks before the surgery. Your doctor will discuss the exact time you need to stop these medications, and when to re-start them, as well as any special medications you may be on that may also have to be stopped before the surgery.
No eating or drinking anything 12 hours before the surgery.
Washing the joint with a special anti-bacterial soap the night before or morning of the surgery.
If there is a long wait between deciding on the surgery and getting it, your doctor may prescribe some strengthening exercises for your joint before the operation to help accelerate the healing after surgery.
The Surgery
The day of the surgery, you will report to the hospital at the appointed time. This will usually be two to four hours before the surgery is scheduled, so you can be prepped for it. If your surgery time changes due to cancelations or additions to your doctor's schedule, you will be informed the night before the surgery via a phone call.
Once you're at the hospital, you will be given IV fluids, an antibiotic shot and will have a consultation with the anesthesiologist. Most joint replacements are done under general anesthesia. However, you may be given regional anesthesia in the form of an epidural or nerve block if you have problems with general anesthesia. You will have the opportunity to talk to the anesthesiologist about your personal preference.
Once you're prepped, the surgeon will come in and talk to you, and will put a mark on the joint to indicate the location of the surgery. You will be given the anesthesia that has been chosen for you followed by the beginning of the operation. Most joint replacement surgeries take between two and four hours to complete.
After Your Joint Replacement Surgery
You will usually stay in the hospital for three to four days after your surgery. During that time, you will be given adequate pain control, and begin physical therapy the day of or the day after the surgery.
Your joint may be iced to reduce the swelling, and you will most likely use a passive motion machine on the joint several times a day to keep the joint moving, accelerate healing, and prevent blood clots. You will also wear compression stockings to prevent blood clots during your hospital stay.
Once home, you will continue to engage in daily physical therapy, either with a home physical therapist or an outside facility. Physical therapy will usually be for one to two months after surgery, two to three times a week, with self-exercises at home in between sessions.
At about two weeks post-surgery, your stitches or staples will be removed, though you will still wear bandages over the incision until it is completely healed. It is important to clean the incision daily while it's healing.
You will be prescribed an over-the-counter pain medication to take for several weeks to a month after the surgery. After that, you can usually wean off of it. You will gradually return to your normal home activities within about two months, and can usually go back to work and drive within about three months after surgery.For most people, joint replacement surgery is a wonderful thing that greatly improves quality of life.
As long as you do your physical therapy, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to enjoy most of the activities you did before the surgery once you heal.You may even find you can do things you haven't been able to do for a long time because of your joint problems once the joint is replaced.
Follow your doctor's orders, and joint replacement can give you your active life back. Talk to your doctor today to see if joint replacement is the right option for you.
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