LEAST EXPENSIVE TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT

KNEE REPLACEMENT

In a time when more and more people find that they are paying higher insurance premiums and deductibles, those out-of-pocket healthcare costs have skyrocketed to $3,000, $5,000 and even $10,000.  It has become imperative that you search out the most cost-effective doctors and facilities for your medical and surgical needs, especially when looking for a surgical center that offers the least expensive total knee replacement.  Gone are the days when you simply walked into a hospital without any cares or concerns about your insurance coverage.

Everyday news stories tell of inflated medical and surgical costs.  “Price transparency” is a commonly used term in the medical industry with regard to facilities posting their charges for services such as total knee replacement.  Our government has even recently begun to require hospitals to publish what they are charging patients for their services as part of a program to educate consumers.  This allows everyone to see what their local hospital is charging and compare them to other hospitals and facilities locally, nationally and even internationally.  The numbers are staggering!  Medical and surgical care is a multi-billion dollar industry with hospital lobbyists pushing hospital agendas and leaving you holding the bill.

OXFORD OUTPATIENT PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENT

The Oxford Partial Knee implant from Zimmer Biomet is designed to repair only one side of the knee, the medial side, making it much smaller than a total knee implant.

In patients with only limited knee arthritis, known as medial compartment arthritis, Dr. Randy Delcore may elect to perform an outpatient partial knee replacement.  Some advantages of the Oxford partial knee replacement procedure are as follows:

• It removes 75% less bone and cartilage;
• Preserves the native anterior cruciate ligament;
• Is less painful;
• Enables a more rapid recovery;
• Provides more natural motion when compared to a total knee replacement;
• Is performed as an outpatient surgery.

Knee osteoarthritis usually occurs first in the medial (inside) portion of the joint.  In knees that are otherwise healthy, a partial knee implant procedure can preserve the healthy bone, cartilage, and ligaments, potentially preventing or delaying the need for a total knee replacement.

In a healthy knee, the meniscus serves as a shock absorber between the ends of the bones.  The “Oxford” is the first partial knee implant with an artificial meniscal bearing designed to glide freely throughout the knee’s range of motion, more closely replicating normal movement.  The free-floating nature of the device potentially provides for a more natural-feeling knee.

Partial Knee Replacement Outpatient Surgery

Dr. Delcore has found that candidates who are generally healthy, well-informed, and motivated do extremely well with outpatient joint procedures, including partial knee replacement surgery. We’ve developed great relationships with home health services, rehabilitation facilities, physical therapy, and lab services to assist in taking care of our patients postoperatively.  Dr. Delcore is proud to be part of the evolving trend toward transitioning healthy orthopaedic patients from the “sick environment” of a hospital inpatient stay to one of self-motivated “healthy mobility” within their own home.  His experience, through 20 years of practice, has given him great insight into which patients fit the criteria for outpatient joint replacements – and what those expected outcomes could be.  Progressive anesthesia techniques including preoperative pain management, minimization of narcotics intraoperatively, intraoperative pericapsular local anesthetic blocks placed by the surgeon and the use of non-narcotic medications postoperatively truly leads to happy patients without pain or nausea and ready to discharge within a few hours.  It is amazing to see our patients up and moving shortly after their outpatient partial knee replacement surgery, and then to hear their success stories as we follow them through the recovery/healing process.  Everyone in our center takes great pride in knowing that we are performing outstanding surgical procedures and after-care with great outcomes and lower complications at a value that is, and always  will be, unmatched by hospitals.