ESPN West Palm interviewed Spencer H. Summers, MD, hip and knee surgeon at HSS Florida on air to discuss hip and knee replacement surgery. 

“We've made a lot of advances in hip and knee replacement. Hip and knee surgeries are fantastic surgeries. They have great outcomes. Patients are very satisfied after the surgery. That has been the case for a while. The biggest advances we have made in the past decade are in improving the pain control around the time of surgery. Previously, patients were staying in the hospital for up to a week at a time after a hip or knee replacement. They'd require really strong pain medications which carry their own risks and side effects and the pain persisted for weeks after the surgery. Now, patients are able to come in, get their surgery, go home often the same day or next day. We use different smaller medications to help settle down the pain. We don't need the super strong pain medications any longer. The amount of time you need the pain medications is also less, so that's been a big improvement,” explained Dr. Summers. 

“During the surgery, we have new tools we get to use during the operation itself, so we have different planning software that we use where we use computers to help find out exactly where we should put your hip or knee replacement. During the surgery, we have robots and other advanced tools that help us place those components into that position that we previously planned for. We have new tools for planning and execution of the surgery all with the goal of giving the patient the hip or knee that functions more like their own normal hip or knee before they had the arthritis,” said Dr. Summers. 

Listen to the podcast at podcasts.apple.com.