Dubai: Patients undergoing hip or knee replacements can now walk home the same day after their surgery, experts here said.
Dr Chris Whately, orthopaedic surgeon at Medcare Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital, said a modern evidence-based approach now helps people recover more quickly after undergoing major surgery.
Hip or knee replacement usually means a lengthy recovery, involving a number of days in the hospital followed by weeks of rehab and physiotherapy.
However, the new approach — known as ‘Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols’ — enables patients to opt for joint replacement procedures with minimal or no hospital stay, allowing faster recovery.
While having an operation can be both physically and emotionally stressful, enhanced recovery programmes aim to get patients back to full health as quickly as possible.
“At Medcare, we are now performing some of the most advanced techniques for musculoskeletal surgical procedures in the region. These include LIA (local infiltration anaesthesia) where freezing is applied to the operative area before and after surgery to enable patients to wake up after their operations with little or no pain,” said Dr Chris Whately, orthopaedic surgeon at Medcare Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital.
He also explained that doctors are using ‘intraoperative cell savers’ to collect the patient’s own blood and return it to the patient at the time of surgery.
This eliminates the need for blood transfusions and minimises the chance for infection, explained Dr Whately.
“To help patients set and meet their recovery goals, my team works closely with them, before and after they have surgery. We make sure that patients know what to realistically expect immediately after surgery, measures to be adopted in the following weeks and months, and how best to prepare their homes and loved ones for their recovery,” added Dr Whately.
Paul Price was admitted to Medcare Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital in the morning of December 4, 2016. He was taken to the operating room the same day, where Dr Whately inserted a new ball-and-socket hip prosthesis into his left hip. By 2pm the same day, Price walked with a walker out of his hospital room, along a hallway and successfully negotiated a few stairs. By late afternoon, he graduated to using crutches. He had supper at the hospital and went home by 8pm the same day.
