Is a Total Hip and Knee Replacement Right for You?

Total hip and knee replacements are two of the most successful surgeries ever created in terms of improvement to quality of life and function. Given recent improvements in technology and pain management protocols the surgery is now being offered to an increasing number of younger and more active individuals with higher expectations of return to an active lifestyle.

Additionally, in these times of global uncertainty, healthcare providers are looking for ways to provide quality healthcare while minimizing the amount of time patients spend in the hospital.

What is Outpatient Total Joint Surgery?

Ochsner orthopedics has been a leader in the development of fast-track programs designed to get patients rapidly up, moving and home after surgery. These efforts include close coordination with our anesthesia team to utilize nerve blocks that can provide several days of pain relief and the use of multi-modal pain medications with a focus on non-narcotic alternatives. At this point, most patients stay just one night in the hospital. Patients get up and walk with therapy on the day of surgery and are ready to go home the next day.

For otherwise healthy patients without significant medical risk factors, we have been able to accelerate this proven fast-track formula and are able to perform hip and knee replacement surgeries on an outpatient basis allowing patients to go home the same day that they have surgery.

Advantages of Outpatient Total Joint Surgery

There are several potential advantages of same day discharge:

-Recent studies have shown comparable long-term outcomes and safety data for total joint replacement done on an outpatient basis in carefully selected patients.

-Increased patient satisfaction and patient reported outcome scores

-Less time spent in a medical facility may equal potentially lower risk of hospital-acquired infection

-Less pain using state of the art anesthesia techniques, such as nerve blocks

-Decreased blood transfusion rate and lower re-operation rate

-Lower cost for patients and providers

Outpatient Procedures Offered:

-Anterior Approach Total Hip Replacement

-Partial Knee replacement

-Total knee replacement