Joint Replacement Q & A with Dr. Theodore Manson

Theodore Manson, MD is an Orthopaedic Surgeon at the University of Maryland Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Manson specializes in hip and knee replacements and orthopaedic trauma. Below he answers the most common questions about joint replacement.   Q. What advances have there been in joint replacements including new technologies, changes in patient-management and rehabilitation? A. One significant advancement in the last 10 years has been around pain management and early recovery protocols. The goal is to minimize the amount of narcotics patients require after surgery. Today, we manage pain through many different types of medicines in addition to narcotics. There’s been a lot of success recently with joint (intra-articular) injections of anesthetic around the hip or knee joint at the time of surgery. This injection limits the amount of pain patients have when they first wake up from surgery. We know that if you limit that first pain sensation, it helps with the whole pain management process going forward. Another significant advancement is infection prevention. Patients’ skin is now pre-operatively prepped with the antiseptic and disinfectant chlorhexidine both at home prior to surgery and at the hospital as well. In addition, we optimize patients’ nutrition and health pre-operatively. These two things have drastically cut down on infection rates. We did not use to address patient nut...
Source: Life in a Medical Center - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Doctors Health Tips Orthopaedics Uncategorized Source Type: blogs