Return to Normalcy - Joint Replacement Surgery

By Dr. Ramneek Mahajan in Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement

Sep 13 , 2021 | 2 min read

India witnessed gruesome second wave of the pandemic in the earlier part of the year. As the second COVID wave plunges, Orthopaedic specialists are seeing surge in patients reaching out for severity in their joint related disability. Immobility, isolation and inability go out of house because of rise in infections and harsh lockdown measures have made the situation worse, because physical mobility helps prolonging the joint life, prevent stiffness and over all general health. Since the pandemic, we have seen a surge in our consultations of patients having accelerated joint dysfunction.

People are caught in a situation where they are experiencing fast progressing joint disease and a prediction of 3^rd wave of COVID. These panic stricken patients are helpless. A set amount of patients who need joint replacement are postponing their surgeries because of the pandemic. They are confused and stressed about catching the infection. It is our duty as clinicians to guide and help them overcome their fears with facts on the ground.

As far as elective surgeries are concerned, Orthopaedic Surgeons have come a long way in terms of patient care and complete infection safety since the day of the first lockdown which marked the beginning of the pandemic. For Joint Surgery, The Orthopaedic Team at Max Saket, strongly advise that physicians and patients adopt the following measures:

Set Protocols
Fast Track Surgeries
Easy Home Based Physio Therapy Protocols
Teleconferencing

Stronger patient education system, which ensure, patient safety and minimum visits to the hospital. When our patients and consultants witness these protocols in action their fear of unknown is largely gone and they are more confident in performing surgeries in COVID situation.

If you know someone delaying the treatment, we need to assure them about the benefits of timely intervention and reiterate that postpoing the surgery may lead to unforeseen circumstances.

Discuss your case with your Orthopaedic Surgeon and understand the measures in place to ensure a speedy recovery to patients with reduced stress and trauma.

The advanced post-surgery care protocols at Max Smart Saket have been our strongest asset, especially during COVID. They helped us reduce patient length during this COVID situation. We have reduced length of stay to 3-4 days for joint replacement surgeries and 1 day for trauma surgeries with improved patient satisfaction rate with our preoperative care. Our staffs are trained for minimal contact with same amount of nursing care. We have developed home based physio protocol and have a big team of physiotherapists, dressers to avoid hospital visits and limit the chances of catching the infection.

Max Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, Saket has the data of more than 100 patients who have had COVID infection and have under gone joint replacement surgery. Our data suggests that the outcome is the same whether or not patient had COVID in the past. We also have few patients who had COVID infection (unrelated to surgery/hospital admission) months after the surgery. Their course of sickness was also not different from general population who had COVID.

It’s time to shed the unnecessary and sometimes harmful reliance on painkiller. Do not blindly believe in any misinformation coming to you rather, proactively educate yourself. Get vaccinated as early as possible. Talk to your doctor. Respect social distancing, practice hand hygiene and do not remove mask in public places.