Spire Yale Hospital and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Knee Specialist Mr Tony Smith implemented a new multidisciplinary, patient focused approach to knee joint replacement with remarkable results. The Rapid Recovery Service, which has been developed by Mr Smith, involves a carefully constructed multidisciplinary team who guide patients through a structured, evidence based pathway of care to achieve excellent results.
The key principals of the Rapid Recovery programme are:
- Patient education and careful pre-operative preparation
- Staff training and engagement
- Pioneering surgical and anaesthetic techniques, resulting in avoidance of post operative discomfort and nausea
- Rapid mobilisation, often within hours of leaving the operating theatre
- Encouraging patients to dress in their normal clothes after surgery and lead as normal activities as possible
- Early, supported discharge home.
Rapid Recovery Orthopaedic Service - Wales
The results of the programme have been extremely positive, patients have been mobilising within hours of their joint replacement surgery and experiencing a rapid return to full activities much more quickly than with previous methods. The majority of patients are ready to go home within 24 to 72 hours, most are able to drive within three to four weeks and are usually experiencing the full benefit of their joint replacement soon after that.
Mr Smith is very pleased with the success, “The benefits of this approach are enormous. As well as returning to activity as soon as possible, patients achieve a better result from their operation and a decreased risk of complications such as deep venous thrombosis”.
“It is not often changes in surgical practice yield such huge changes in outcomes for patients, but I am convinced the Rapid Recovery programme is a huge step forward for my patients having joint replacement surgery”.