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Healthy You Archives |
Coping with Illness
The Ultimate Answer to Worn-Out JointsReplacement surgery gives two local people more active, pain-free lives
Camping AgainSue Mayes had to give up the outdoor activities she loves due to crippling arthritis. After knee and hip replacement, she’s reactivated the camper. For Sue Mayes — a new knee and hipSue Mayes, 49, of Germansville coped with arthritis in her right hip and left knee for years, walking with a cane and limiting her activity. “The pain in my hip was so bad a trip to the grocery story would wear me out,” she says. Her knee was less painful, but it was bent, and that limited her ability to get around.Mayes had her hip replaced in February 2004 and her knee later that year. Now she walks without a cane, swims and is able to go camping again. “Surgery changed my whole way of life,” she says. With osteoarthritis, the cartilage that cushions the bones in the joint wears away completely. Bone rubs against bone, causing pain and lack of movement. It usually develops later in life, but can afflict people like Mayes as early as the teen years. “For those with advanced joint diseases that no longer respond to medication and physical therapy, joint replacement offers a chance to end the pain and return to normal activities,” says orthopedic surgeon Eric Lebby, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. While the surgery can be done on any joint, knee and hip replacements are by far the most common. For knees, the surgical team replaces the damaged ends of the bones and the underside of the kneecap. For hips, they replace the painful parts of the damaged joint with a prosthesis (a device that supplements or substitutes for a joint). “Total joint replacements last until the metal and plastic surfaces give way to the wear and tear of daily life,” Lebby says. How long that takes depends on many factors including the patient’s age and activity level. “We try to limit surgery to older adults,” he says, “but as the technology improves, we’re doing replacements on younger people. The main advances are new plastics and metals (called alternative bearing surfaces) that wear better and last longer.” Surgeons today also can use techniques that reduce the size of incisions and resulting scars. And they can administer anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea drugs before, during and after surgery. These drugs, along with some vitamins and minerals, help patients get active right away, speeding their recovery. For Wilbert Mauser — ”reversed” shoulder surgeryWilbert Mauser, 72, of Allentown suffered pain in his right shoulder for years. He gave up bowling and couldn’t pick up his grandchildren or great-grandchildren or throw a ball with them. “Then one day, I was sitting in bed and the pain became unbearable,” he says. “I couldn’t move, sleep or lie down.”Mauser went to orthopedic surgeon and shoulder specialist James Hoffman, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. An MRI revealed that Mauser’s rotator cuff—the tendons surrounding the shoulder—was torn beyond repair. Hoffman recommended the newly approved Aequalis® Reversed Shoulder Prosthesis. With conventional shoulder replacements, surgeons attach a plastic socket to the shoulder bone and a metal ball to the upper arm bone, relieving some pain and allowing the patient to lift his arm partway (to a 90-degree angle). With the new procedure, performed at Lehigh Valley Hospital—Muhlenberg, Hoffman reverses that approach. He attaches the ball to the shoulder and the socket to the upper arm bone. This gives the job of arm-lifting to the big shoulder muscle (deltoid), not the rotator cuff—eliminating pain and restoring full mobility. “It’s very common for people in their 70s and 80s to have damaged rotator cuffs,” Hoffman says. “Now, rather than having to live with the pain and immobility, they have a solution. It’s specifically designed for adults over 70 with completely worn-out rotator cuffs. The procedure is safe and requires little if any physical therapy for recovery.”
Want to Know More about how to prepare for and what to expect from knee and hip replacement surgery? Click here for information on pre-surgery classes. This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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