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For those suffering with chronic knee pain, there is good news! Options for knee replacement surgery have improved and the benefits include a shorter hospital stay, less blood loss and potentially less scarring. Athletic Orthopedic and Reconstructive Center is pleased to be among the first practices in the South Florida area to offer custom knee replacement. Using this new technique, we can now match the fit and placement of the total knee implant to the patient’s unique anatomy.

Why is this important? Because everyone’s knees are different. These differences, determined by factors such as age, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle, can have a tremendous impact on the success of knee replacement surgery. Just slight variations in the way the implant fits can lead to pain, stiffness, instability and potentially shorter implant life.

With custom knee replacement, surgeons can preserve more of the patient’s own bone and ligaments, which allows for better implant fit and knee alignment. This means that patients have the opportunity to experience a more “natural” feeling knee, greater range of motion and a quicker return to normal activities.

For more information, visit www.bone-fix.com or call 239-368-8277.

As a participating provider at Lehigh Regional Medical Center and Gulf Coast Medical Center, we are able to offer advanced surgical care for patients with a team of experienced surgical support staff at both facilities. With specialized services and accommodations for patients receiving total knee and hip replacements, Gulf Coast Medical Center and The Joint Academy at Lehigh Regional Medical Center provide patients with pre-surgical education, inpatient hospital care and post-surgical rehabilitation. At both facilities, our patients receive the highest quality, specialized surgical and post-surgical care available. In addition, our surgical teams work together closely and frequently so that patients can expect a team that is highly experienced in joint replacement. As a result, we have good outcomes and our patients return to their healthy, active lifestyles more quickly. Are you considering orthopaedic surgery? I’d like to hear from those of you considering surgery. Share your comments or call us at 239-368-8277 or visit www.bone-fix.com.

Hip replacement is a major surgery. While traditional hip replacement involves operating from the side or back of the hip, the direct anterior approach requires a smaller incision, about three to four inches long at the front or anterior of the hip.

The anterior approach procedure to total hip replacement has been gaining popularity due to the benefits for patients including reduced scarring and minimized risk of muscle damage. The time from replacement to recovery is reduced and patients are returning to their active lifestyles more quickly.

The benefits of anterior approach to hip replacement include:

-Muscle-friendly
-Less invasive
-Less pain
-Less scarring
-Faster recovery

For more information, call 239-368-8277.

View this video and learn more including frequently asked questions to see if you are a candidate for hip replacement. For more information visit www.bone-fix.com or call 239-368-8277.

Have questions about hip replacement?  Want to learn more for yourself, a friend or family member?

To read answers to frequently asked questions about hip replacement, click here or call 239-368-8277.

Once you and your orthopaedic surgeon have decided that hip replacement surgery is right for you, there are some steps you should take to prepare yourself. Below is a list of tips from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons:

Medical Evaluation

If you decide to have hip replacement surgery, you may be asked to have a complete physical examination by your primary care doctor before your surgical procedure. This is needed to assess your health and identify conditions that can interfere with your surgery or recovery.

Tests

Several tests may be needed to help plan your surgery: blood and urine samples may be tested and a cardiogram and chest x-rays (radiographs) may be obtained.

Preparing Your Skin

Your skin should not have any infections or irritations before surgery. If either is present, contact your orthopaedic surgeon for a program to improve your skin before surgery.

Blood Donations

You may be advised to donate your own blood prior to surgery. It will be stored in the event you need blood after surgery.

Medications

Tell your orthopaedic surgeon about the medications you are taking. Your orthopaedist or your primary care doctor will advise you which medications you should stop or can continue taking before surgery.

Weight Loss

If you are overweight, your doctor may ask you to lose some weight before surgery to minimize the stress on your new hip and possibly decrease the risks of surgery.

Dental Evaluation

Although infections after hip replacement are not common, an infection can occur if bacteria enter your bloodstream. Because bacteria can enter the bloodstream during dental procedures, you should consider getting treatment for significant dental diseases (including tooth extractions and periodontal work) before your hip replacement surgery. Routine cleaning of your teeth should be delayed for several weeks after surgery.

Urinary Evaluation

Individuals with a history of recent or frequent urinary infections and older men with prostate disease should consider a urological evaluation before surgery.

Social Planning

Although you will be able to walk with crutches or a walker soon after surgery, you will need some help for several weeks with such tasks as cooking, shopping, bathing and laundry. If you live alone, your orthopaedic surgeon’s office, a social worker, or a discharge planner at the hospital can help you make advanced arrangements to have someone assist you at your home. A short stay in an extended-care facility during your recovery after surgery also may be arranged.

Home Planning

The following is a list of home modifications that will make your return home easier during your recovery:

• Securely fastened safety bars or handrails in your shower or bath
• Secure handrails along all stairways
• A stable chair for your early recovery with a firm seat cushion (that allows your knees to remain lower than your hips), a firm back and two arms
• A raised toilet seat
• A stable shower bench or chair for bathing
• A long-handled sponge and shower hose
• A dressing stick, a sock aid and a long-handled shoe horn for putting on and taking off shoes and socks without excessively bending your new hip
• A reacher that will allow you to grab objects without excessive bending of your hips
• Firm pillows for your chairs, sofas and car that enable you to sit with your knees lower than your hips
• Removal of all loose carpets and electrical cords from the areas where you walk in your home

For more information, call 239-368-8277 or visit www.bone-fix.com.

Good news for knee replacement patients!  A new study finds that knee implant durability is not negatively affected by high-impact sport participation. Read the study:

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients may be able to participate in high-impact sports without increasing risk of early implant failure, according to a new study presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). In addition, the authors observed better clinical scores in the group of patients who participated in activities discouraged by the Knee Society (KS) than those of the control group.

The Knee Society recommends TKA patients avoid activities that cause high stress loads on the implant and may increase the risk of early failure. Such activities include high-impact aerobics, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, jogging and power lifting, among others.

“Recent studies have shown that as many as one in six total knee replacement patients participate in non-recommended activities,” said Sebastian Parratte, M.D., PhD, an orthopaedic surgeon from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and the Aix-Marseille University, Center for Arthritis Surgery, Hospital Sainte-Marguerite in Marseille, France. “This study offers some reassurance to those patients who choose to return to an active lifestyle after surgery.”

Researchers evaluated outcomes of 218 patients between the ages of 18 and 90 who underwent primary knee arthroplasty at the Mayo Clinic and reported performing heavy manual labor or practicing a non-recommended sport following surgery. The “sport group” was matched by age, gender and BMI to a control group of 317 patients who underwent the same procedure using an identical implant and followed recommended activity guidelines.

Clinical and radiologic results were measured using Knee Society (KS) scores and implant survivorship was evaluated using multivariate analysis according to the Cox model.

At an average follow-up of seven-and-a-half years after surgery, the study found:

• No significant radiological differences and no significant differences in implant durability could be demonstrated between the sport group and the control group;
• The sport group showed slightly higher KS Knee and function scores compared to the control group;
• The control group experienced a 20 percent higher revision rate for mechanical failure (loosening, wear or fracture) compared to the sport group;
• After accounting for all variables, including co-morbidities, the sport group had a 10 percent higher risk of mechanical failure compared to the control group.

These results were quite surprising to Dr. Parratte and his team.

“We hypothesized that high-impact activities would not increase the risk of implant failure, but we did not foresee that such activities might actually improve clinical results,” he said. “It is clear that more research is necessary to evaluate the short and long-term effect of high-impact activities on the durability and function of modern TKA implants.”

He added that, although the industry is not ready or able at this point to revise its recommendations, the possibility may exist in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, he noted that surgeons and patients should continue to follow all industry recommendations relating to recovery following joint replacement surgery.

For more information on knee replacement, call 239-368-8277 or visit www.bone-fix.com.

After about a year of limping in pain, a Cape Coral woman recently underwent the anterior approach to hip replacement. Hear what she has to say:

69-year-old Rita Reinhart was recently referred to me by her co-worker, a former patient of mine. X-rays revealed Rita had severe osteoarthritis:

“I had been experiencing hip pain and having trouble walking for over a year. When I heard about the anterior approach to hip replacement from a friend, I went to see Dr. Curcione. He recommended the anterior approach to hip replacement. Days later, I was home and walking again. I’m no longer living in pain and once again enjoying keeping up with my 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.”

                                                            ~Rita Reinhart, age 69, Cape Coral 

Learn more about the benefits of the anterior approach to hip replacement including reduced scarring, a shorter hospital stay and shorter recovery at my next free seminar on Thursday, April 15, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Gulf Coast Medical Center, 13681

Doctors Way in Fort Myers. For reservations or more information, call 239-368-8277.

Athletic Orthopedic and Reconstructive Center is among the first practices in the South Florida area to offer custom knee replacement allowing surgeons the ability to match and fit the placement of the knee implant with the patient’s unique anatomy.

 Everyone’s knees are different. These differences, determined by factors such as age, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle, can have a tremendous impact on the success of knee replacement surgery. Just slight variations in the way the implant fits can lead to pain, stiffness, instability and potentially shorter implant life.

With custom knee replacement, surgeons can preserve more of the patient’s own bone and ligaments, which allows for better implant fit and knee alignment. This means that patients have the opportunity to experience a more “natural” feeling knee, greater range of motion and a quicker return to normal activities.

For more information, call 239-368-8277 or visit http://www.bone-fix.com/.

To provide more information and answer questions about treatment options for severe hip pain, including the anterior approach to hip replacement, orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Peter Curcione will host free educational seminars on Wednesday, March 17 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Athletic Orthopedic and Reconstructive Center, 3400 Lee Blvd., Suite 105 in Lehigh Acres and Thursday, March 18 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Gulf Coast Medical Center, 13681 Doctors Way in Fort Myers.  The topics to be addressed will include:

• Osteoarthritis and causes of hip pain
• Treatment options including the anterior approach to hip replacement
• How hip replacement works, what to expect and recovery

For reservations, call 239-368-8277, ext. 2302. Refreshments will be served. Space is limited. For more information on the anterior approach to hip replacement visit: bone-fix.com