Arthroplasty – Overview

Transcript

My name is Dr. Matt Russo. I am an orthopedic surgeon, fellowship trained in joint replacement surgery. That means I perform total hip replacement, total knee replacement, and partial knee replacement surgery. Typically, patients require this surgery if they are suffering from advanced degenerative changes, most commonly osteoarthritis, but maybe primary rheumatoid arthritis or an inflammatory condition as well. The joint replacement is performed either for advanced degenerative changes or a deformity, or a post-traumatic condition that may cause the joint to no longer be functioning and very painful for the patient. Prior to consideration of surgery, we discuss multiple different alternative treatments prior to finally focusing on the surgery itself. These include physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medicines, weight loss…. All these conditions can help. Injection treatments, prior to joint replacement itself. Once we’ve exhausted all of these conservative measures, surgery might be an option for you. Essentially all of these processes result in the joint being completely degradated and no longer functioning properly. You may lose range of motion, but more importantly, every motion results in pain. And so we try to remedy that by replacing the entire joint itself. What we do is we carve out all of the existing remaining cartilage that’s been destroyed and / or diseased, and we take all that cartilage out and shape it to accept a new joint.