Joint Pain Treatment

For many people suffering from hip arthritis or other sources of hip pain, stiffness and/or limited hip movement, the only option for hip pain relief is hip replacement surgery from an orthopedic surgeon. However, many Baylor Scott & White facilities offer anterior hip replacement—a proven, minimally invasive technique that usually minimizes hip pain and the time for total hip replacement recovery.

Anterior hip replacement offers many potential benefits:

• Anterior hip replacement allows the total joint surgeon to access the hip joint from the front rather than having to cut and then re-attach muscles around the hip as in the conventional hip replacement approach.
• In the anterior approach to hip replacement, an orthopedic surgeon reaches the hip by working through natural openings between muscles. By not having to cut the muscles, there is usually decreased pain and hip replacement recovery.
• With a conventional approach to hip replacement, typically there are strict precautions for hip movement, which can slow down recovery. With the anterior approach, patients are allowed to bend their hip freely post-operatively and can bear full weight as soon as comfortable. This usually results in a more rapid return to normal function following hip surgery.

Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Temple, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Waxahachie, and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Marble Falls offer robotic-assisted hip and knee procedures. When it comes to hip replacement surgery, the robotic arm is designed for patients with a degenerative hip joint disease caused by osteoarthritis, post-traumatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, avascular necrosis or hip dysplasia. It uses real-time imaging information and images of your hip to help provide accurate implant placement.

Robotic total hip replacement surgery benefits may include:

• Reduced likelihood of hip dislocation
• More consistency in leg length, potentially decreasing the need for a shoe lift
• Decreased risk of the implant and bone abnormally rubbing together, potentially improving the lifetime of the implant

A top cause of knee pain is osteoarthritis, and the most common surgical knee intervention performed for osteoarthritis is a total knee replacement. During this procedure, an orthopedic surgeon removes the natural joint and replaces it with an artificial implant. This orthopedic treatment option is usually offered to patients with advanced osteoarthritis for knee pain relief or elimination.

Robotic Total Knee Replacement may provide the following benefits:

• Helps create a personalized surgical plan
• Helps ensure proper preparation of the bone
• Allows for more precise placement of the knee implant
• Produces minimal blood loss and a smaller scar
• Helps preserve healthy bone and soft tissue
• Results in less post-operative knee pain than manual techniques
• Provides a quicker recovery from knee replacement surgery and a shorter hospital stay

Total knee replacement is not always optimal for patients with early to mid-stage osteoarthritis in just one or two compartments of the knee. For patients with partial osteoarthritis of the knee, an orthopedic specialist may determine that partial knee resurfacing is the more appropriate solution.

Partial resurfacing is an innovative knee pain treatment option for adults living with early to mid-stage osteoarthritis that has not progressed to all three compartments of the knee. During the procedure, the orthopedic surgeon resurfaces the diseased portion of the knee, sparing the patient's healthy bone and surrounding tissue. The surgeon then secures the knee implant in the joint to allow the knee to move smoothly again.

Robotic resurfacing for knee pain treatment may allow for:

• Ideal implant positioning that results in a more natural-feeling knee following knee surgery
• Quicker recovery and shorter hospital stay than traditional knee replacement surgery
• Less scarring/smaller incision
• The knee surgery to be performed on an outpatient basis
• More rapid knee pain relief and return to daily activities

One-day joint replacement discharge is available for eligible patients undergoing total hip or total knee replacement surgery. This innovative approach means patients are discharged home within 24 hours after their replacement surgery.

Thanks to advances in anesthesia during hip or knee replacement, patients generally wake up sooner after their joint procedure and without previous side effects, like nausea. This allows rehabilitation to begin within hours after surgery and enables a patient to be discharged within 24 hours after their joint surgery.

Who qualifies for one-day joint replacement discharge?

Many patients qualify to return home 24 hours after their hip replacement or knee replacement, including those who:

• Are overall in good health
• Have a healthy body mass
• Have a support person to help at home
• Take a pre-operative training class and review educational materials
• Have discussed one-day joint replacement discharge with their orthopedic surgeon

If at any point for any reason a patient who meets the criteria for one-day joint replacement discharge is not ready to go home the day after his or her surgery, the patient will remain in the hospital until he or she is ready to be safely discharged home.