Hitting your 50s or 60s can bring several life changes, and increasingly those include artificial joints. For much of the aging U.S. population, knees in particular are wearing out. More than 600,000 knee replacements are performed annually in the U.S., according to The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. That number is expected to swell… Continue reading 3 Reasons to Avoid – or Delay – Knee-Replacement Surgery
Tag: knee replacement
Patients Who Live Alone Can Safely Be Sent Home After Joint Replacement
Most patients who live alone can be safely discharged home from the hospital to recover after hip or knee replacement surgery, suggests a study in the January 17, 2018 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in partnership with Wolters Kluwer. A release from the publishers notes that the… Continue reading Patients Who Live Alone Can Safely Be Sent Home After Joint Replacement
How to Conquer Knee Pain
Standing up slowly, maybe with a little sigh or grunt? No one wants to admit to such a thing. Joints do wear out as we age, but there are things you can do to keep your knees healthy longer. Joint pain stems from osteoarthritis (OA), a condition marked by the breakdown of cartilage – the… Continue reading How to Conquer Knee Pain
Knee Surgery May Have Minimal Quality-of-Life Effects if You Don’t Have Severe Symptoms
Current use of knee replacement surgery for patients with osteoarthritis may have minimal effects on quality of life and is economically unattractive, according to a study published March 28th 2017 in The BMJ. A release from the publisher notes that the researchers found that if the procedure were restricted to patients with more severe symptoms,… Continue reading Knee Surgery May Have Minimal Quality-of-Life Effects if You Don’t Have Severe Symptoms
New Study Suggests Patients May Shower Earlier after Knee Replacement Surgery
A study suggests it may not be necessary for knee replacement patients to wait up to two weeks after surgery before showering, as many surgeons require. The study from Loyola Medicine compared patients who were allowed to shower two days after surgery with patients who had to wait 10 to 14 days. Researchers performed bacterial… Continue reading New Study Suggests Patients May Shower Earlier after Knee Replacement Surgery
A Knee, Hip or Shoulder Replacement To Go
When retired NHL goaltender Olie Kolzig underwent hip surgery a few years after his 14-year professional hockey career ended, I planned something unusual for his recovery. “They were trying a different approach,” says Kolzig, 45, who played nearly his entire career with the Washington Capitals. “They felt the hospital wasn’t the best place for my… Continue reading A Knee, Hip or Shoulder Replacement To Go
Increased Risk of a Heart Attack Right After Joint Replacement Surgery
Boston-based researchers found that osteoarthritis patients who had total knee or hip joint replacement surgery known as arthroplasty were at increased risk of heart attacks (myocardial infarction) in the early post-operative period. However, the good news is that long-term risk of heart attacks did not persist. Yet the not-so-good news is that the risk for… Continue reading Increased Risk of a Heart Attack Right After Joint Replacement Surgery
Who Needs a Knee Replacement?
Knee replacement is an operation that involves removing parts of one’s natural knee joint and replacing them with artificial ones. Knee replacement is the most common joint replacement surgery. The main reason to have knee replacement surgery is to ease pain and disability caused by arthritis or other joint problems, while preserving movement. Less commonly,… Continue reading Who Needs a Knee Replacement?
Topical TXA in Total Joint Replacement Lowers Blood Transfusion Use
Orthopedic surgeons from The Miriam Hospital in Providence RI, affiliated with Brown University, have conducted a cost-benefit analysis of topical tranexamic acid (TXA) in primary total hip and knee arthroplasty patients that revealed a 12 percent transfusion rate reduction – from 17.5 percent to 5.5 percent – with no significant difference in complication rates. In… Continue reading Topical TXA in Total Joint Replacement Lowers Blood Transfusion Use