Safe and Sound: Ambulatory Joint Replacement Surgery Gets You Back to Life
Joint replacement surgery has come a long way. Most procedures no longer require patients to endure lengthy hospital stays. In fact, with the growth of Ambulatory Surgical Centers (known as ASCs) and advances in technology and surgical techniques, ambulatory joint replacement surgeries—including those of the hip and knee—can be performed with patients returning to the comfort of their own homes one or two hours after their surgery.
At UNOVA Hip & Knee Center in Lady Lake, Fla., we believe that the more specialized, personalized care patients receive at the Ambulatory Surgery Center, before, during and after the procedure, allows them to get back to life faster, and safer.
Is it really safe?
While ambulatory joint replacement surgery at an ASC continues to grow, so does the evidence that it is safe.
ASCs have lower complication rates.
A study in the National Library of Medicine concluded that there were no intraoperative or direct ASC-related complications after surgery in the patients that had their procedures done in a freestanding ASC. The study’s overall conclusion stated, “Ambulatory Total Joint Replacement surgery with discharge to home at a freestanding, independent ASC is a safe option after development of a multidisciplinary Total Joint Replacement pathway.”
One example of a post-op complication is a fall, post-op falls are hazardous because they can lead to injury and possible further surgery. Average patient falls within the first 90 days at the national level are 8%. Falls are directly related to the use of spinal anesthesia as well as opioid and narcotic use during conventional joint replacement surgery. At UNOVA Hip & Knee the rate of falls is less than 1.0%. This is directly attributed to our unique opioid and narcotic sparing anesthesia program that emphasizes the use of proprietary sensory nerve blocks that do not cause muscle weakness.
ASCs have lower surgical infection rates.
Ambulatory Surgery Centers are associated with lower rates of surgical site infections since only the patients and their primary family caregiver come to the center for a relatively short period of time. There are no visitors, so patients are less likely to be exposed to bacteria and viruses carried by other patients and their visitors which often occurs in the hospital setting.
Dr. J. Mandume Kerina and Thomas H McCoy, the lead orthopedic surgeons at UNOVA Hip & Knee Center, utilize advanced technology and surgical techniques to perform their Ambulatory Total Joint Replacements. With patient-specific, single-use instruments, most of the joint replacement instruments used for another patient will never be used on you and vice versa.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8.95 per 1,000 patients developed a surgical site infection after surgery in the hospital setting, whereas a similar analysis by the Journal of American Medical Association revealed that only 4.84 per 1,000 ASC patients developed a surgical site infection after surgery, cutting the rate at nearly 50%.
The surgical infection rates specific for UNOVA Hip & Knee Centers patients are even better, at only 0.4% or 4.0 per 1000 patients.
But what about a patient’s age and pre-existing conditions?
Over Ninety percent of Medicare patients at UNOVA Hip and Knee Center have their elective joint replacements at a freestanding ASC. The team’s pre-op and post-op processes help patients heal faster with minimal complications, while allowing them to rapidly achieve maximal functional improvement after surgery. They do this by utilizing a unique, data-driven, personalized care strategy that ensures patients are in their best physical, functional, and mental state in order to optimize surgical outcomes.
ASCs have lower rate of patient readmission.
According to an analysis of studies by Aquity MD, 30-day readmission rates for total hip and knee replacements at hospitals were between 7-9%. The average readmission rates for UNOVA Hip & Knee Center patients are less than 1%. This can be attributed to our proprietary Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Patient Partnership. This partnership involves your surgeon, preop team, anesthesia team, surgical team, post-acute care team and home health team.
Ambulatory surgery gets you back to life.
Compared to an average hospital stay of two or three days after inpatient surgery, patients being treated at the UNOVA Hip & Knee Center on average, can go home 90 minutes after surgery.
When 54-year-old Sherry D. of Florida went to UNOVA for a Total Knee Replacement Surgery, she was in at 8:45 a.m. and home before 2 p.m. the same day.
“I was very happy to recover in my own home. I had only had one major surgery before this, and I had to recover in a hospital. I did not care for that at all,” she said. “And with Dr. Kerina’s surgery, I didn’t have to take pain pills. . . so I was very glad I could recover without them.”
As with any surgical procedure, follow up care is important. A post-surgery plan of action is provided and should be followed.
If you are considering a hip or knee replacement and are interested in exploring whether ambulatory joint replacement is appropriate for you, make an appointment at the UNOVA Hip & Knee Center.
