Day of Surgery

Many people will be with you in the operating room during your one to three-hour surgery, including:

• Orthopedic surgeon(s) – your doctor(s) who will perform surgery.
• Anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist – the doctor or nurse who gives you anesthesia.
• Scrub nurse – the nurse who hands the doctors the tools they need during surgery.
• Circulating nurse – a nurse who brings things to the surgical team.

Your surgeon and the anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist will help you choose the best anesthesia for your situation. No matter what type of anesthesia you have, be assured you will not feel the surgery.

Options include:

• General Anesthesia – You are put to sleep. Minor complications such as nausea and vomiting are common, but can usually be controlled and settled within 1-2 days.
• Epidural – You are numbed from the waist down with medicine injected into your back. (This is also used for women giving birth.)
• Spinal – Much like the epidural, you are numbed from the waist down with medicine injected into your back.

You may have any of the following inserted:

• An Intravenous Tube (IV) – This is placed in your arm and used to replace fluids lost during surgery, administer pain medicine, or deliver antibiotics and other medications.
• A Catheter Tube – This may be placed in your bladder to help your healthcare delivery team keep up with your fluid intake and output. It is most often removed the day after surgery.
• A Drain Tube – This may be inserted in your bandage site to help reduce blood and fluid buildup at the incision.

Elastic stockings will be put on your legs to help the blood flow. You may also have compression foot pumps wrapped around your feet and connected to a machine that blows them up with air to promote blood flow and decrease the possibility of blood clots.

Before You Leave The Hospital

Before you leave the hospital, you will learn how to:

• Get in and out of bed by yourself
• Walk down the hall with your walker or crutches
• Get in and out of the shower by yourself
• Get in and out of a chair
• Manage steps at home
• Get in and out of your car

In the days following surgery, your condition and progress will continue to be closely monitored by your orthopedic surgeon, nurses, and physical therapists. Much time will be given to exercising the new joint, as well as deep breathing exercises to prevent lung congestion. Gradually, pain medication will be reduced, the IV will be removed, diet will progress to solid food, and you will become increasingly mobile.

Joint replacement patients are generally discharged from the hospital when they are able to achieve certain rehabilitative milestones, such as getting in and out of bed unassisted or walking 100 feet. Whether you are sent directly home or to a facility that assists in rehabilitation will depend on your physician’s assessment of your abilities.