27 Sep Hip Replacement death rates fall
Here at Openhealth Clinic, we are seeing more and more joint replacements. A hip is one of the more common joints to be replaced. The good news is that in the eight years between 2003 and 2011, of 400,000 operations, death rates recorded within 90 days of the surgery have fallen from 0.56% to just 0.29%.
Any surgery should be viewed as a last resort, but I believe joint replacement does have a slight stigma attached to it. It is something foreign being screwed/glued into your body, and that can’t be right, can it? At the very least, it is a confirmation that you must be very, very old!
Well, we disagree. It is all very well putting it off as long as possible, but be careful. Being younger and fitter will not only increase your survival rate but more realistically, speed-up your recovery post operatively and enable you to get back to doing more. I also wonder how many of these death rates might be cardio-vascular related, ie more as a result of the patient being house/chair bound for a year owing to their hip pain.
Interestingly, we are being asked by a number of surgeons to provide pre-op physio for ankle, hip or knee replacements. The reason for this is clear. The stronger and fitter the patient is, both generally and across the joint in question, the more successful the outcome.
If you are about to have a joint replacement, please feel free to give us a call to discuss what we can do to help.
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