Articles Posted in Stryker Knee

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Knee replacement surgery has become the most common elective surgery performed in the U.S. on an annual basis.  There are an estimated 600,000 procedures performed each year.  While an orthopedic surgeon may perform multiple operations in a single day, when he or she finds out they need to have a total knee replacement procedure performed on them personally, it is a very new experience.

knee-replacement---side-view-1183622-mA recent news feature from Medscape involves a very experienced knee replacement surgeon discussing his own total knee replacement surgery and recovery.  This surgeon is 59-years-old and has been performing knee replacement operations for quite some time.  He estimates that he performed more than 3,500 total knee replacements over the course of his career.  It would seem that the procedure is entirely routine, but that is only the case when he is operating on other people. Continue reading

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In the United States alone, more than 600,000 people undergo a single or bilateral total knee replacement operation each year. This incredible figure makes total knee replacement the most common surgical procedure performed each year.  Next in line is the total hip replacement operation, of which there are between 300,000 and 400,000 performed annually in the U.S.  Between the two procedures, it is clear to see that joint replacement (arthroplasty) is big business.

woman-in-hospital-1051476-mWhile the vast majority of operations go well, there is always a risk of infection following a major surgery. Infection can destroy the artificial knee and cause a patient to need an above the knee amputation.  It is important to understand that no matter how much effort a hospital puts into sterilizing everything and making sure there are no germs present in the operating room, infections, including staff infections, are going to happen, and it is not necessarily anyone’s fault. Continue reading

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A total knee replacement has become one of the most common surgical procedures in the United States, and these operations, along with total hip replacement procedures routinely rank high year after year.  In most cases, having a joint replaced with an artificial one is considered an elective procedure, but it basically comes down to a quality of life issue.  At some point, a patient will get tired of living with severe arthritis and opt for having the surgery. As we have seen over the past decades, that certain point in a patient’s life is being reached at a much younger age.

surgeryOne of the reasons more and more patients are choosing to undergo the surgery each year is because more advanced techniques have been developed, and studies show that this means better outcomes for patients, shorter recovery times, and an overall increased satisfaction among patients.  What makes these study results interesting is that the patient satisfaction portion is usually based on information provided by the surgeons and not the patients themselves. Continue reading

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In the past two decades, the number of patients undergoing a total knee replacement procedure each year has gone up considerably.  As the number of surgeries has increased, there have been many advancements in the techniques used by surgeons to perform the total knee replacements. The recovery time, too, has lessened and the chance of success has increased.

mhANPeMAccording to a recent news feature from ABC, there are certain things that can be done to increase the chances of success even more, so as to avoid the chance that the device will fail after the procedure to the greatest extent possible.  Continue reading

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More people are electing to undergo total knee replacement than ever before.  These patients are much younger than they had been in past, when total knee replacement surgery was typically reserved for elderly people with severe arthritis and those who suffered a traumatic knee injury.

knee-replacement---side-view-1183622-mAccording to a recent news feature form Blabbermouth, Glenn Hughes, who is the former base player and vocalist for the band, Deep Purple, has recently cancelled his upcoming U.S. tour which has been marketed at The Trek.  Hughes is unable to make The Trek because he says he suffered some “recent setbacks” following his double knee replacement surgery.  Continue reading

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Getting a total knee replacement is a big decision.  There is often a lot of pain following the surgery and an arduous rehabilitation period that can keep a patient out of work for weeks while having to go through physical therapy. Unless the patient broke his or her knee in a traumatic accident or attack of some sort, it’s generally considered an elective procedure. But the question becomes weighing the difficulty of coping with chronic and worsening pain versus undergoing a risky surgical operation – and all the recovery problems that may accompany it.

shower-1427304Now, there may be good news for knee replacement patients. A recent news article from Pantagraph indicates patients may be able to hit the showers sooner. There has long existed a fear that showering any sooner than two weeks might increase the likelihood of a post-operative infection.

Granted, the study is small, but it indicates no differences in bacterial swabs from patients who waited two weeks to shower compared with those allowed to shower after about two days.
Continue reading

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In the United States, a total knee replacement operation is among the most commonly performed types of elective surgery, with hundreds of thousands of procedures being done each year.  There is also a trend for younger patients to undergo total knee replacement procedures.

knee-replacement---side-view-1183622-mIn the past, it was mostly an operation done on elderly individuals who have suffered through years of painful osteoarthritis.  These days, with more Americans wanting to lead an active lifestyle, patients who are decades younger are speaking with their doctors about having a total knee replacement.  This is especially true of those who have engaged in long distance running, which is often hard on joints and can lead to arthritis.  The arthritis can cause bone spurs in the knees and that will often cause severe pain and stiffness in the knee, leading to the possible need for a total knee replacement surgery. Continue reading

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There is no question that more people are getting total knee replacements than ever before.  However, unlike with an organ transplant, when a patient undergoes the procedure, they are not getting a joint from a donor, but rather having an artificial knee implanted. This artificial knee has been manufactured by one of a few medical device companies.

knee-replacement---side-view-1183622-mWhen a patient goes to their doctor and is told they will need to have a total knee replacement, the surgeon will typically tell a patient what type of device he or she would like to use and get an informed consent for the use of that particular type or model or artificial knee.  In the past, doctors just stated their preference and patients went along with that. Today, doctors are more commonly explaining the different types of artificial knees and having the patient make a choice.  One of the possible reasons for this is because of the problems they have seen with defectively-designed artificial knees. Continue reading

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After having a total knee replacement procedure, there is generally a somewhat long and painful recovery period.  This is especially true in the case of a bilateral total knee replacement.  This is a controversial procedure that involves a surgeon, or even two surgeons, replacing both of a patient’s knees at the same time with an artificial knee implant device.

mhANPeMWhile it is common for a patient to get severe osteoarthritis in both knees at the same time and to ultimately need both knees replaced, many doctors prefer to do the operations on separate occasions.  The reason they prefer this course of action is because even though the total recovery time is doubled, the patient is up and walking around much faster, and this means they are out of the hospital and less likely to get a serious infection.

Patients are also less likely to get a serious clotting disorder known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), where clots form deep in the veins of the legs and then travel to other parts of the body, where they can cause serious damage and even death. On the other hand, doctors who perform bilateral knee replacement procedures favor the reduced rehabilitation time. Continue reading

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Football teams regularly release injury reports during the season and even during the offseason.  Normally these reports are for players, but the Chiefs recently included head coach Andy Reid on the injured reserve, as he was forced to miss the NFL combine after having a total knee replacement operation, according to a recent news feature from CBS Sports.

file000480371600The NFL combine is the most important event of the offseason in terms of the upcoming draft of NCAA athletes. The combine involves a series of physical tests, medical evaluations, mental health evaluations, and player performance evaluations to determine what players a team should consider drafting and in which order.  There is very little reason why a head coach would want to miss the combine, but sometimes is is not possible to attend due to health issues. Continue reading

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