Total Joint Replacement

The surgical procedure. A total knee replacement is a surgical procedure where the diseased knee joint is completely replaced by artificial materials that resemble the original knee joint. The orthopedic surgeon removed the end of the femur and the end of the tibia by using metal pieces and sawing the bone, to ensure that he removes the right amount of bone. The end of the femur bone is replaced with metal and the end of the tibia bone is replaced with plastic and metal. A plastic piece was added under the patella because the surface under the patella was damaged as well. These artificial materials, called prosthesis, have smooth surfaces so when they rub against each other, it does not cause damage and is pain-free. The purpose of this surgery is to remove the diseased portions of the joint and replace it with artificial materials to prevent further deterioration and eliminate pain, stiffness, and decreases in function that were caused by the osteoarthritis.

Katz, J. N., Wright, E. A., Polaris, J. J., Harris, M. B., & Losina, E. (2014, May 22). Prevalence and risk factors for periprosthetic fracture in older recipients of total hip replacement: a cohort study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 15(1), 1-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-15-168Lewis, S. L., Dirksen, S. R., Heitkemper, M. M., Bucher, L., & Camera, I. M. (2011). Medical-surgical nursing: Assessment and management of clinical problems (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: else

My practical competencies have been obtained through working with a general and orthopaedic surgeon. Whilst working with my clinical supervisor, (a consultant orthopaedic surgeon) we decided it would be beneficial to review orthopaedic wound infections. I chose to concentrate on wound infections during a Total Hip Replacement (THR). Wound infections is a massive subject so I have selected specific areas to look at, which are:

Life can change in a split second when an unanticipated injury or disease hinders someone’s normal daily life. Modern medicine, physicians and families can only do so much but physical therapy can help recoup the life many of us take for granted. It often isn’t until we lose something that we as humans realize what we had such as the value of our body’s ability to take us through each day. A physical therapist is the person who stays with a patient for the duration of the rehabilitation process. A physical therapist leads the patient through the process of regaining physical strength and helps the patient regain control of their future. Much like many careers that involve interaction with individuals, physical therapy reaches beyond

A total knee replacement (TKA) is the most common joint surgery performed in the United States (Turner, 2011, pp. 27-32). Each year, over 650,000 Americans undergo this surgery (Wittig-Wells, 2015, pp. 45-49). It is an invasive surgery that involves an incision on top of the knee and replacing damaged parts of the knee with artificial parts that are either metal, ceramic or plastic. Someone would get a total knee replacement for damage of the joint, osteoarthritic, posttraumatic, or inflammatory arthritis. The cartilage is damaged, wears away and then you develop bony deformity and contracture of ligaments but it starts out with specific defects or wear of cartilage. The top nursing priorities for a total knee arthroplasty is to “prevent complications, promote optimal mobility, alleviate pain, and provide information about diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment needs” (Doenges, 2014, pg. 627). A possible nursing diagnosis from the patient who is undergoing a TKA might be ‘impaired physical mobility related to pain and discomfort as evidenced by reluctance to attempt movement.’ Another one could be ‘acute pain related to chronic joint disease as evidenced by reports of pain’ (Vera, 2014).

The assessment of the patient’s care needs is based on the type of infection. As such, nurses have the responsibility of providing a high quality health care to the patients. The postoperative assessment involves assessing the patient’s perceptions related to behavior and physiologic responses. It also involves the monitoring of the pain from the patient during the treatment period based on the operations performed. In postoperative assessment, the patient’s wound is monitored in relation to the healing frequency, pain felt, and the availability of some foreign substances like the body discharges. Obtaining the information relating to post operative assessment ensures that the patient is well taken care of by the nurse after operations, and avoids incidences of other circumstances that might hinder quick healing (Grocott, 2007). Once the patient gathers the information concerning the postoperative assessment, then a decision is made whether to seek medication from the same hospital or look for other alternatives. In the case of Sophie, it was clear that the nurses were not keen in following the postoperative assessment, therefore, causing the wound to obtain infections.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease, highly prevalent in African Americans. African Americans men are 3 times more likely then Caucasians men to have involvement of all three compartments of the knee (Jordan, 2015). Total Knee Replacement (TKR) is a cost-effective treatment. Nonetheless, TKR rates are lower in African Americans.

elderly, and approximately one third of patients undergoing hip arthroplasty surgery will die within the first year (Gregersen et al., 2012). The specialised nature of the orthopaedic ward is a complex environment for not only nurses, but for all health care professionals. It is the role of the registered nurse within the orthopaedic ward to provide holistic assessment and comprehensive post-operative planning to facilitate client centred care for an elderly patient undergoing a total hip arthroplasty (Walker, 2012). The purpose of this essay is to identify and prioritise appropriate nursing assessments and care provided for an elderly man (Mr. Simons) transferred to the Orthopaedic ward from the Emergency Department via operating theatres. The discussion will initially consider the environment of the orthopaedic ward and the role that the nurse must assume to provide high quality care. Focusing briefly on the ageing population and the impact that hospitalisation has on the elderly, the essay will then rationalise and prioritise current nursing assessments considering the primary and secondary assessment strategy and consideration of major body systems. Moreover, the discussion will detail and rationalise the appropriate management of patient safety, comfort and communication with substantiated planning of care by the registered nurse in the first eight hours of stay.

Total knee replacements are known as the most effective orthopedic procedures in the world. These surgeries are most often preformed on geriatric patients. Over time, because the knee is one of the lowest joints in the body, it is typically more prone to wear compared to joints holding less body weight. In the United States, the overall amount of total knee replacements exceeds over four times the overall number of total hip replacements. In the year of 2015, the estimated number of total knee replacements was predicted to be about 719,000 ("Inpatient Surgery." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Ordinarily knee replacements are used to ease pain and disability caused by arthritis or other joint problems, while preserving movement.

What were once considered high-tech, joint replacements are now a common operation. Surgeons replace more than a million hips and knees each year in the U.S. Studies show joint replacements can significantly relieve pain and increase mobility in about 90% of people who get them. Feature, R. Morgan, Griffin WebMD. “Should You Have Knee or Hip Replacement Surgery?” WebMD. WebMD, 30 Dec. 0089. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. What symptoms should tell a person that it is time for a hip replacement? The first and most important sign is pain and

The most common indication for total knee replacement is osteoarthritis, or degenerative joint disease. The end stage of osteoarthritis is wearing out of cartilage (smooth, gliding bone ends) resulting in bone-to-bone contact in diseased joints. It is progressive and becomes increasingly painful as the cartilage erodes. Younger people who get knee replacements have damaged their joints by trauma (accidents that destroy joint surfaces), infection, cancer or tumor, and inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

In 1997 the Oswestry Outcome centre was setup to serve as an independent international register for the collection, analysis and reporting of outcomes following hip resurfacing arthroplasty. Between 1997 and 2002, 4535 patients were recruited by 139 surgeons from different centres in 38 countries. We selected 70 patients (73 hips) which included 58 patients (59 hips) with SCFE and 12 patients (14 hips) with LCP. These patients were age and gender matched to a group of 73 patients with primary osteoarthritis whose outcomes were unknown to us. The selected patients in both groups were operated by 39 surgeons from 4 countries. The primary osteoarthritis group was labeled as group OA and secondary arthritis group was labeled as group LS. All patients were entered in this study after informed consent by the operating surgeon who provided the demographic and clinical details of each patient. These details were stored on a secure electronic database in the outcome centre and patients were followed annually in context of function, complications, revision and

Surgery to replace the entire hip is commonly used in treating joint failure mainly caused by osteoarthritis, which is a degenerative joint disease and is caused by the breakdown of cartilage and underlying bone in a joint. The aims of the procedure are to improve the hip function and movement and relieve the joint of pain caused by the osteoarthritis, during this procedure gaps appear between the bones and implant due to grinding of the bone.

Knee replacement surgery (also recognized as total knee joint arthroplasty) is generally undertaken when knee problems related with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis have occasioned in the wearing down of the knee joint. In a total knee replacement operation, a doctor cut away impaired bone and cartilage from the thighbone, shinbone and kneecap and replaces it with an artificial joint (knee prosthesis) made of metal alloys, plastics

DN is a 68 year old Caucasian male who lives in Pomona, Missouri. On September 14, 2009, DN underwent a scheduled left total knee arthroplasty at Baxter County Regional Medical Center. A consultation appointment about a total knee arthroplasty was scheduled when DN had increasing pain in his knees while doing chores and working on his dairy farm. The increasing pain DN was having been due to a history of osteoarthritis and the wear-and-tear on his joints throughout his life, no specific injury was noted. Depending on the outcome of the left knee, DN was consulted on having his right knee done in the future