Fast Track and Outpatient Total Hip and Knee Replacement: A Review

Paul E Di Cesare*

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopedic Institute, USA

^*Correspondance to: Paul E Di Cesare 

 PDF  Full Text Review Article | Open Access

Abstract:

There is a growing trend to have total hip or knee replacement surgery as an outpatient or with
short stay. As joint replacements have been extended to younger and healthy patients, the need for
inpatient stay has come into question. The movement toward doing total joint replacement in the
outpatient setting has come about due to improved and optimized surgical techniques, appropriate
anesthesia; and an adaptation of patients, surgeons, and every stakeholder that outpatient total
joint replacement is safe and as effective as performing the surgery in an inpatient setting. All the
stakeholders for a successful fast-track program including the healthcare team, patients, relatives
and caregivers must be aligned in order to optimize efficiency and instill confidence in the patients
that they are safe for outpatient discharge. The growing results from the peer-reviewed literature
has shown that an outpatient or fast-track total hip or knee replacement program can be as safe
and effective as a standard total joint program; in some cases, more effective. Patient selection is
important and multifactorial with no absolute contraindications to participation in a fast-track
program; each patient should be carefully evaluated to determine their suitability for enrollment in
a fast-track total joint program.

Keywords:

Total hip and knee; Replacement surgery; Fast-track program; Stakeholder

Cite the Article:

Di Cesare PE. Fast Track and Outpatient Total Hip and Knee Replacement: A Review. World J Surg Surgical Res. 2020; 3: 1192..