A REVOLUTION IN THE TREATMENT OF KNEE INJURIES has been brought about by technical advances in surgical methods and home after-care modalities for pain management, swelling control and early range-of-motion therapy. Many surgical procedures that required a 3 to 5 day hospital stay and a full-leg plaster cast for six weeks in the late 1980’s are now routinely done on an outpatient or “23-hour stay” basis without any casting at all ! While almost all patients prefer going home right away and being cared for by their family rather than overworked hospital staff, it is important that patients have CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS concerning their after-care procedures and modalities.
NO ONE can completely remember complex verbal instructions regarding unfamiliar procedures and devices given in a recovery or hospital room! Traditional, rudimentary surgi-center and hospital instruction sheets have not kept pace with the complexities of advanced, orthopaedic home-care modalities such as C.P.M. machines, cryotherapy devices, and continuous local anesthetic infusion pump systems. Some surgeons solve this problem by simply not offering their patients any advanced home-care modalities, relying on just pain pills and the small, minimally effective ice packs dispensed in most recovery rooms. That is not our way of doing things at the Knee and Shoulder Centers. In order to allow patients to take maximum advantage of state-of-the-art
home care modalities, Dr. Sapega created a series
of comprehensive, but easily understood, post-operative
instructional guides that he can quickly “customize” to
each of his patient’s surgery and individual circumstances.
You may view these guides, which cover almost all aspects of
post-operative KNEE after-care, by clicking
on the buttons below. Please note that many of the instructions
contained in these guides may pertain only to our patients
and this material should not be considered general
post-operative medical advice! Other surgeons’ home-care
regimens and instructions may differ.
Suggestions for additions / changes / clarifications to these
instructional |
