Decatur Orthopedic Center has been doing outpatient joint replacements since June 2018. Our protocols are evidence-based and patient specific.
Why outpatient joint replacement?
First and foremost, its safe! Patients can recover in the peace of their own home. We often tell our patients that they are not sick. The hospital is for sick patients and we want to keep our healthy orthopedic patients out of the hospital.
What happens on the day of an outpatient joint replacement?
- Arrive early the morning of surgery
- Surgery takes an hour
- Recover in the orthopedic specific location
- Complete 2 sessions of physical therapy. Each patient will prove to our therapy and nursing teams they are safe and ready to go home.
- Discharged in the afternoon
- Home nurses and PT begin arriving POD #1
What are common concerns patients have about outpatient joint replacement?
- Pain – we have evidence based multi-modal pain management strategies that help patients recover safely. We often hear that the pain was not nearly as intense as the patient was anticipating. We have found that the better we manage pain, the better the recovery is for our patients.
- Pain medications dispensed the day before so no need to go to the pharmacy
- What do I need to have at home
- Communication – My Mobility is an app on your smart phone that helps communicate important information leading up to and after the surgery. It is a direct link between the patients and their orthopedic care team.
Where
- Decatur Memorial Hospital (DMH)
- HSHS St. Mary's Hospital (Decatur)
- Kirby Medical Center (Monticello)
- Pana Community Hospital
Treatment Options
