Chronic or nagging pain in your knee or hip shouldn’t be ignored, because it could become worse if you do not have it medically evaluated and treated. Depending on the type of joint disease or injury you have, it can severely limit your range of motion and your ability to perform everyday activities – not to mention cause considerable pain.
Let’s talk about some of the main reasons why people have joint surgery, the surgical treatments that are performed most often, and where you can go in Raleigh for world-class orthopedic surgery to repair your hurting joint.
Knee and Hip Problems that Warrant Surgery
Common debilitating hip and knee conditions that require surgery for full repair include:
- Osteoarthritis, also known as wear-and-tear arthritis, in which the protective cartilage in the joint no longer sufficiently prevents bone-on-bone rubbing during movement.
- Osteonecrosis (avascular necrosis), in which reduced blood flow to the joint causes the bone tissue to deteriorate.
- Failed hip or knee replacement, in which the prosthetic joint fails to work properly, or wears out itself, and needs to be repaired or replaced.
- Meniscus tear, which is torn cartilage in the knee that typically occurs due to a forceful twisting or rotation of the knee.
Surgical Treatments for the Joints
Surgical treatment options for repairing the knee or hip include the following:
- Minimally Invasive Total Hip Replacement: The new minimally invasive, muscle-sparing approaches require much smaller incisions than traditional surgery to replace your hip joint with a prosthetic joint. By preserving the full integrity of the major muscles and tendons around the hip joint, there is reduced pain and a faster recovery.
- Minimally Invasive Total Knee Replacement: With this procedure, the diseased or damaged joint surfaces in your knee are replaced with bio-grade prosthetic components. Your new knee should greatly mitigate or eliminate your prior knee pain, correct the alignment of your leg, and can improve your range of motion. Just as with the hip replacement, minimally invasive techniques can preserve surrounding muscles, decrease postoperative pain, and improve your recovery.
- Minimally Invasive Partial Knee Replacement: This technique is reserved for an otherwise healthy knee that only has arthritis in one spot. The damaged portion of the knee is replaced to quickly restore your mobility with less pain and more natural function, while preserving the other healthy areas in the knee.
- Revision Total Hip and Knee Replacement: Complications from a previous hip or knee replacement can potentially be surgically corrected by replacing the damaged or worn components of the joint. The new prosthetic materials are specially designed to solve potential issues such are wear, loosening, instability, or other damage to the mechanical parts of the original replacement.
- Outpatient Joint Replacement: Taking advantage of the latest technological advances in minimally invasive surgical techniques, many joint replacement surgeries can now be done as a routine, outpatient procedure. This allows you to safely return home with a new hip or knee on the same day as your surgery.
Orthopedic Surgeon in Raleigh, Apex, and Brier Creek, North Carolina
With his vast experience and advanced fellowship training in hip and knee replacement surgery, Dr. Brett Gilbert is highly adept at providing compassionate care, technical expertise, and personalized attention to patients with hip or knee issues. Dr. Gilbert is also available to provide a valuable second opinion to help you make clearer decisions about your treatment options.
To learn more about outpatient knee or hip surgery, request an appointment with Dr. Gilbert by calling us today at (919) 788-8797 or by filling out our appointment request form online. We look forward to serving you!
