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Interviewer: Today's listener question is what should somebody look for in an orthopedic surgeon when they're having a knee or hip replacement done. We're talking with Dr. Chris Pelt. He's an orthopedic surgeon and an expert in these types of replacements at University of Utah Health Care. What do you tell somebody if they were to come up to you at a party and say, "What should I look for in a doctor when I'm considering this kind of surgery?"

Dr. Pelt: I tell them to find a surgeon that they feel personally comfortable with, someone that they connect with.

Interviewer: Even if they're really, really good at it, if you're not making that connection you say go find somebody else.

Dr. Pelt: Yeah, exactly. I think that's an important thing because this will become a lifelong relationship with a surgeon. We will follow it for the rest of your life, so you want to be able to connect with that surgeon. But the other thing is you want to find someone who's technically very, very skillful. That's often with experience. Surgeons that perform over 100 hip or knee replacements a year tend to have a better outcome than surgeons that perform fewer surgeries per year, and so often is an important question to find out how many of these types of surgeries your surgeon performs.

Interviewer: And that's something you could just ask. You can just ask, "How many do you do a year?"

Dr. Pelt: Absolutely. And if a surgeon is offended by that question, the patient may want to take pause. Most surgeons that are experienced and comfortable with their own skill set will have no problem answering a question like that.

Interviewer: Beyond the surgeon, where you go, does that make a difference, kind of like the philosophy of the surgical center you do go to?

Dr. Pelt: Just like the surgeon, the facilities are very important both in their quality and cleanliness, their infection rates. A surgical center that does more of the same types of procedures will be better at what they do, so high volume centers that perform high numbers of hip and knee replacements annually will have better outcomes than places that do it more uncommonly.

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Dr. Miller: You've had a hip or knee replacement and need a revision, we're going to talk about that next on Scope Radio.

Announcer: Access to our experts with in-depth information about the biggest health issues facing you today. "The Specialists," with Dr. Tom Miller, is on The Scope.

Dr. Miller: Hi, I'm here today with Dr. Chris Pelt. He's an orthopedic surgeon here at the University of Utah in the Department of Orthopedics. Chris, talk a little bit about how long a hip or knee replacement lasts. Obviously, that's pretty variable. But when that begins to wear out, and I'm sure in a certain percent of people it does, what's the next step?

Dr. Pelt: Historically, a hip replacement would last 10-15 years. Newer technologies have been developed, which allows the hip replacements to be lasting closer to the 30-year time point, when we look at these on wear simulators, we haven't had the technology 30 years now, but when we look at the available information and literature it looks like it could last much longer than historically.

Dr. Miller: So when they wear out, does the actual prosthetic device wear out or do they come loose? What actually happens? What's more common?

Dr. Pelt: There are three main wear mechanisms or failure mechanisms. One is that the bearing will wear out so the plastic liners can get worn and you can replace the plastic liners. More commonly, however, what we find is that the implants can get loose from the bones or the worst of all of the complications would be infections of the implants. And a lot of the referrals that we do see come from outside in the community hospitals, they refer to us for complications related to infections.

It's one of the more common failures in early time points when a joint replacement fails, but it can happen later in life as well, it can happen when bacteria get into our bloodstream and they find their way to the artificial joints. Metal and plastic do not have an immune system so when bacteria are in our bloodstream, whether it's from an infection in our mouth, dental work, an infection of a toe or any other type of infection in our body, a bacterial infection, it can find its way to our hip replacements. We want to be careful about that when patients are undergoing treatments for other medical issues.

Dr. Miller: Well, based on how patients present with either one of those three things, I guess you craft the repair or surgery to meet that problem. I would imagine a revision surgery is probably a delicate or complex surgery compared to an initial hip replacement or knee replacement.

Dr. Pelt: It's quite a bit more complex. It takes a little bit more expertise and skill because it can be very easy to have a revision surgery and have things go wrong.

Dr. Miller: How long, then, does that revise tip last? Does it last as long as the initial implant or are people looking at a little less lifespan on the hip or knee?

Dr. Pelt: It depends. It depends on what the problem is that we're treating and what implants we have to use to deal with that reconstruction. But, on average, they should last similar time frames to the initial index operation. Some of these will be, hopefully, the last surgery the patient needs to have in their lifetime.

Dr. Miller: Now, patients who present with the infected hips, I think you probably take the old device out and then either put in a new device or wait until the infection has been treated. But I imagine that treatment goes on for several weeks with antibiotics. Is that right?

Dr. Pelt: That's right, yeah. We've taken a lot of pride and created a significant team around the treatment of joint replacement infections here at the University of Utah. We have infection disease specialists, our internal medicine colleagues, ourselves as orthopedic surgeons, our nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants and a bunch of other people that help us take care of our patients. But yeah, the surgery is required initially to take the device out and get rid of all the bacteria out of the joint.

We place a temporary antibiotic-laden or antibiotic-containing spacer with some temporary parts that'll allow the hip or knee to still move the way it typically would and after about three months of treatment with antibiotic and a drug holiday, we often will be able to take the temporary device out and replace it with a permanent device again.

The typical revision joint replacement surgery we may not allow to bear weight on the limb that was just operated on right away. Often, after a primary hip or knee replacement, we have the patients up and walking, with full weight bearing, the day of the surgery. With revision surgery, depending on what it is we are doing, but with most revision surgery, that often is delayed. So we won't let them . . .

Dr. Miller: Both knees and hips?

Dr. Pelt: Both knees and hips. Typically for about six weeks. And the reason is as we mentioned when we are dealing with bone loss and having to accommodate or account for that with bigger and larger implants, sometimes, we need biology to be on our side.

Dr. Miller: It's almost like a fracture that needs treatment so you can put weight on it.

Dr. Pelt: It's almost like treating a fracture. Exactly. So we're waiting for bone in-growth to happen to the implants before we start putting too much weight and start making micro-motion or something that could compromise the stability or fixation. So typically, they're going to be at least six weeks behind where they might have been after their index or primary joint replacement surgery.

After which time, we start ramping up some more of their physical therapy, start getting walking on it, start getting them to strengthen their muscles with some weight and resistance modalities finally, where they probably have not been doing those in the first six weeks. And so they can just expect a little bit long time point until they get back to their maximum improvement point.

Dr. Miller: Initial replacements, they are out of the hospital pretty quickly these days. How long would they expect, on average, to be in the hospital after a revision?

Dr. Pelt: Our typical primary joint replacements will go home the next day, sometimes the latest two days after surgery. A revision surgery has an average length of stay of around three days. Some patients will go home around day two, others around day three, sometimes even day four, but about a day or two longer in the hospital. That's mostly because they're trying to account for the weight bearing restrictions, the mobility needs that they have to get used to after having the revision surgery. So our physical therapists are going to be working with them in the hospital, trying to get them to do the things that they'll need to be able to do when they get out of the hospital

Dr. Miller: Now, you have patients coming from cities distant to Salt Lake. So, interestingly, once they leave the hospital, how do you make sure that the therapy they are getting in their hometown is going to be adequate?

Dr. Pelt: So we have patients that fly in from northern Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico all to have their surgeries done here with us. And it is difficult. We do have, like I said earlier, we do have a big team, including some of our care coordinators and our nurse coordinators that help kind of reach out and make sure our patients are doing well after surgery. We call our patients pretty frequently.

We write pretty strict and standardized protocols and instructions to send home with our patients when they leave the hospital so the physical therapists are able to follow those directions pretty closely. And that way, we don't compromise anything that may be a difference in how they treat things in one place vs how we do here. We try to give them those instructions so it is very clear on what our expectations are when they leave the hospital. And then our team of care coordinators and nurses are going to be calling and ensuring that everything is going right as the weeks progress.

Dr. Miller: So their therapist, no matter where they would be, would be able to contact your care team to figure out if there we any things that they need to modify or revise in terms of the treatment?

Dr. Pelt: Absolutely.

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Interviewer: In this series of podcast we're talking about knee replacement surgery and hip replacement surgery. We've already done a couple episodes talking about whether its right for you or not and the similarities and differences in the two procedures.

You've gotten to the point now that you've decided to have surgery and you've likely talked to somebody and you have an appointment. This podcast is going to help you prepare once you've decided to have surgery. We're with Dr. Chris Pelt. He's an expert in joint replacement in University of Utah Health Care at the Orthopedic Center. So what should I do before surgery to make sure it goes as well as possible? I've heard this referred to as pre-hab.

Dr. Pelt: Pre-hab is a new concept that we're really trying to optimize patients to get them ready for surgery. Pre-hab may be including physical therapy to strengthen their muscles and improve their conditioning and get them physically fit so that they're going to have a better outcome after the surgery.

But more than just pre-hab, it's optimizing patients so that they're going to have a good outcome. And that includes everything from their nutrition, their diet, their mental states so that they're ready to undergo a big surgery, to optimize their family support systems, so that they have adequate resources and people around to help them get through the surgery and the recovery process. It's about optimizing their medical condition. Again, we want to make sure people don't have a complication or a poor outcome. We want to make sure that they have a good chance of healing their wound and not getting an infection.

So if there are risk factors for outcomes that might be impacted by the things like smoking or obesity or diabetes, we want to take the time before the surgery to optimize modifiable risk factors, making sure that we have the best chance of a great outcome. So that might include visiting with your primary care doctor, working with physical therapists or diabetes specialist, weight loss specialist to try to optimize their medical condition.

We want to make sure that they're healthy. They don't have a sickness. They don't have sores or scrapes or scratches on their bodies, something that could be a source to get an infection in their blood stream. Anything that we can do to make sure that they're coming into the surgery as perfectly tuned up as possible is what we're trying to do in the pre-hab setting.

Interviewer: Because we learned in a previous podcast that infection is one of the big threats of this type of surgery. So some of these things can actually lower your chance of infection.

Dr. Pelt: That's absolutely right. Infection is rare, less than 1%. But when it does happen it can be a devastating complication. So if they are modifiable things that we can do to optimize our health and decrease our chances of an infection, we want to take all of that time and that energy and effort and do that before we go to the operating room.

Interviewer: And I understand here at the University of Utah that you actually have a class beforehand that helps people prepare for the surgery. Tell me about that.

Dr. Pelt: We have a joint academy that we ask all of our patients to attend prior to a joint replacement surgery. A lot of this helps to set some of the expectations about what is it like to have a surgery. You're going to meet with our physical therapist. You're going to hear about what type of modifications you need to make at home, what kind of things you're going to expect after the surgery from a physical therapy recovery rehabilitation process.

We find this to be a very integral portion of the preoperative period. We want patients to get that education, hear it from the people that are going to be helping take care of them, so that they know what to expect when they have their surgery. And really it does help optimize their outcomes later.

Interviewer: And I think it's important to stress it. It's okay to hear this information two or three times, because there's a lot of it. So the more you hear it the better command you have of it.

Dr. Pelt: You're going to be absolutely inundated with information from the very first visit to our office all the way through the end of this process. And hearing it multiple times really helps to reinforce it. And as hard as we try to tell it to you, to write it down, for you to listen and you're going to miss parts. And you're going to be really I think better off by having heard it multiple times.

Interviewer: And it's integral to your recovery and your quality of life after the surgery that you understand and do a lot of these things. What about family members? We talked about pre-hab in terms of changing some lifestyle stuff, but family members are important in the recovery too. Talk about that a little bit and how you should prepare them before you go in for surgery.

Dr. Pelt: We talked about the fact that it is a big surgery. So having a social support system is really valuable, actually. It helps you get through it. It also provides you resources. One of the things that we know is that patients have the best outcomes when they're able to return to their own home in their post-operative setting. There's lower risk of complications and in your own home you're going to have a more peaceful setting where you're going to recover well. And you have people around you that love you and are helping you get the best outcomes.

Please bring your family member to your preoperative visit, to your visits with your surgeon, to the visits with your therapist, to the joint academy. Get them involved. The more people that hear it and the more times you hear it, the better off you're going to be and the better you're outcomes are going to be.

Interviewer: Plus also you need to prepare for after your surgery, which we've got a podcast coming up and family is crucial to that recovery as well, just being there.

Dr. Pelt: Again, I think that the family really helps facilitate your optimal care after the surgery. And having them around, someone that can help you, light household chores, housework, maybe preparing some meals for you kind of decreasing the burden of activities of daily living for you while you spend more of your energy recovering. But the good news is, you're going to be up like I said walking, before you leave the hospital you're able to walk stairs, get in and out of cars, walk around the hallway and the nurse's stations.

You're not going to be totally dependent on your family but you're going to want somebody around to be there to support you I think.

Interviewer: Finally let's talk about how you can pre-hab your house, so to speak, to make sure that it's prepared for your return home after the replacement, because you'd have to change a few things.

Dr. Pelt: Most people will have stairs in their house. You can't get rid of stairs in your home. But you can try to optimize the placement of things on similar floors if that's an option. Perhaps you might use a guest bedroom instead of your normal bedroom because it's closer to a bathroom and the kitchen and maybe things are on the same floor. That might not be an option for everybody and it's not mandatory. But things that you can do to simply make it easier for you to co-locate certain things you're going to do throughout your activities of daily living will be helpful.

Removing obstacles throughout the house, maybe you have some bath mats or area rugs that you might want to remove because they might be a risk factor for you to trip on with your walker or your crutches. And also trying to practice using those types of things in your own home before you even have your surgery before you have to come back and try it out. Practice with your crutches, walk around your house a little bit. See how it feels and make sure that everything is looking like it's going to be a good option for you when you get back.

Interviewer: Yeah. Now, that you said that I'm like, ìThat's a great ideaî but I could see myself feeling like, ìthis is little sillyî but it probably does make a difference. You probably might see some things you might not realize before.

Dr. Pelt: I think the more you do before you have the surgery and before you get home, the better off you're going to be.

Interviewer: Coming up in the next podcast we'll talk about life after your total joint replacement whether it's in your hip. We'll talk about how will it improve your life, what to expect as far as that is concerned, what to expect with rehab and also what to expect with pain management.

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Interviewer: In this series of podcast, we're talking about hip and knee replacements and what you might need to know and what you do need to know, all the way from the beginning to the end of the process. So in this particular podcast, we're going to talk about hip and knee, the similarities and the differences, because for the most part, there are a lot of similarities. But there are some unique risks and challenges that might apply if you're getting a hip replacement or a knee replacement. Dr. Chris Pelt is a joint replacement expert at University of Utah Health Care in the Orthopedic Center. So first of all, let's look at the similarities between these two types of joint replacements.

Dr. Pelt: Hip and knee replacements are both fairly invasive surgeries. They're done in a hospital setting. Most patients will have an in-patient stay of overnight. Some patients might be eligible to go home the day of surgery and others may take a couple of extra days. In general though, they are very similar as far as the invasiveness and the risks that are associated with the surgeries. We do spend time in clinic and try to have patients understand that there are risks, and that's part of the reason that we don't invite every patient to simply jump right into joint replacement surgery. The benefits of the surgery, mean the potential for relieving pain and improving function, have to be greater than the likely risks that exist when you undergo any procedure, and in particular, with joint replacement.

Joint replacement is a unique surgery when compared to other surgeries in our bodies because we're using metal and plastic parts to resurface the end of our bones. The reason that's really important to understand is metal and plastic parts in our bodies don't have an immune system and they can't fight off infections on their own, and so they're at very high risk for infection-related complications. That being said, national averages over the last decade or so have ranged between 1 and 3% when you look at all joint replacements done throughout the country. At the University of Utah, we work really hard on our infection prevention methods and our average has been less than 1% actually over the last five years.

But it is important to understand that if an infection occurs in a joint replacement, we can't simply treat it like we might if we get an infection in a different kind of surgery of our body. We can't just give an antibiotic and hope the infection goes away. Often what that means, if we do experience an infection, that we're going to be going to the operating room and there's going to be more surgeries. Potentially, surgeries to remove the implants that we worked so hard to place and get those taken out because we have to get the bacteria and the implants out together. So that's one of the really unique issues that's related to joint replacement, as opposed, as I mentioned, to other potential surgeries people might have throughout their body.

Besides that, there are other inherent risks of joint replacement surgery. There's a slightly increased risk for blood clots. That can happen in the legs or the lungs. We work really hard to try to prevent that. Part of the prevention is just getting people up and moving which is one of the great things about joint replacement is it does help improve their function, helps them get up and move.

We encourage our patients to get up and start walking with their therapist on the day of the surgery, and in order to decrease their pain as well as to decrease their risk for blood clots. We also use some medications to help thin the blood and also to help prevent people from getting those blood clots.

And then there are other issues that anyone could have with any surgery, whether it's a joint replacement or anything else, they might have a risk for a heart attack or strokes or other bad things that could happen medically. They are exceedingly rare. In fact, the risk of those types of bad things happening with anesthesia or joint replacement is no more and perhaps even less than the risk of them getting in a car accident on the way to the joint replacement center. So we really take a lot of effort and spend a lot of time maximizing people's health and working hard to minimize their chances of having an adverse event or a risk or a complication.

Interviewer: So those are some of the similarities whether you're getting a knee or a hip. Now, let's look at some unique aspects of knee surgery.

Dr. Pelt: So with knee replacement surgery, it is a part of your body that has the effect of gravity. It's downhill from our heart. So knees tend to swell perhaps a little bit more. They tend to get fairly bruised after the surgery. And then most importantly, not just around the time of the surgery, but also for the life of the knee replacement, some patients will describe a more mechanical feel of the knee. They might notice some clicks. Most patients will have a patch of numbness on the outside of their knee after the incision is made for knee replacement. These are all very common things and they're a little bit unique to a knee replacement as opposed to a hip replacement.

Most patients will have substantial improvements in their pain, and again that is the whole purpose of doing the joint replacement, is to decrease peoples' pain. But it may not be completely pain-free. They may still have a little ache or swelling occasionally. They may notice the weather change. But often, they are performing well better than they had been before their joint replacement.

With hip replacement, many people will actually go on and even forget that they had it done. The hip does perform differently than the knee. It's a different type of joint, it's a ball and socket as opposed to a hinge type of a joint like a knee. So there's different types of soft tissues around it, it's a deeper joint, there's more muscles. In general, many patients after hip replacement after a year or more may not even remember they had it done. They become so pain-free and it becomes such a normal part of their life, so people do have those subtle differences that they notice between hip and knee replacement.

There are differences also in the risks between the two. With knee replacement, we don't much talk about the risk of dislocation or leg length, and many surgeons that will discuss hip replacement with patients may discuss these unique things. Dislocation in a ball and socket joint means the ball will pop out of the socket. That's also an exceedingly rare complication, but it is unique to the hip as opposed to the knee. What happens if a dislocation occurs, patients may have to go to the emergency room or come back to the hospital, see their surgeon to have it replaced or reduced without surgery. But again, the risk of that is very, very low. Less than 1% with the techniques that we use in today's approaches to minimize their chances of dislocation.

Leg lengths the surgeon can adjust slightly during a surgery, but our surgeons are working very hard and actually using x-rays during the surgery and measuring within millimeters, if not micrometers, to make sure that we're working hard to restore patient's leg lengths again so that patients don't feel like they're unequal. Many patients will come into surgery with one of their legs being longer or shorter actually because of the arthritis, and we're working to make those equal again with the hip replacement to restore that again.

Hip and knee replacement afford significant improvements in patient's quality of life, their improvement in their function, and decreases in their pain levels. There are unique differences between the two procedures. But in general, very similar risk profile and very similar improvements in patient's outcomes. For more information about hip and knee replacement, visit our website at UniversityofUtahOrthopedics.com.

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Interviewer: In this series of podcasts we've been talking about total joint replacements for the hip or the knee, and trying to figure out if it's right for you. If you do decide you want the procedure we're also in the series covering what to expect before, during and after. And in the first segment we talked about if a replacement may be right for you.

But another consideration is have you tried more conservative measures to alleviate your pain? And to help sort through them is Dr. Chris Pelt. He's a joint replacement expert at University of Utah Healthcare's Orthopedic Center. Tell us about some of the options patients should try before they make the next step to a complete joint replacement.

Dr. Pelt: Well the first thing that most people already do before they even come to a doctor is they that either have not addressed the fact that they have pain or they've started to modify their activities. Most people start to do that on their own, and it's one of the indicators that they're being bothered by their joint pain and arthritis. Things like they stopped running as far, or they stopped running altogether. Their hikes may become walks around the block instead of hikes in the mountains, maybe they're not skiing the double black diamonds anymore, or avoiding the moguls and they're sticking to the groomers now. Starting to change the things they do at work, starting to do the things they do at home differently. Maybe they can't even go to the grocery store as much as they used to, or they're having to use a walker or a wheelchair at times. So people start to modify their activity.

When we start to provide conservative treatments through our primary care colleagues, non-operative specialists or even ourselves, when we're trying to avoid surgery, we utilize other modalities. Things like physical therapy. Perhaps braces, or compression wraps. I mentioned wheelchairs or crutches, or walkers. Things like assistance devices. Some people start to use a cane. We can often offer medications. The mainstay in the treatment of arthritis pain is to attempt to decrease pain associated with inflammation. Arthritis is simply when we lose that smooth cartilage on the end of the bones in our joints, it creates a rough mechanical problem. That also creates inflammation so using a medication like an anti-inflammatory can decrease the inflammation and therefore also decrease the pain associated with it.

There are other things besides just anti-inflammatories, and some patients may not be able to take an anti-inflammatory. Patients with renal or kidney problems, patients with stomach issues or ulcers. They may have other reasons that they can't take an anti-inflammatory, so there are other things to take as a medication for pain as well. Things like Tylenol. Over the counter Tylenol works very well. Acetaminophen as an analgesic or a pain relieving medication. There are other types of pain relievers we often try to avoid, but they do exist for the treatment of arthritis based pain, like narcotics. Norco, or Tramadol or other similar types of medications can be tried as well. Again, we try to avoid those because there are other, better modalities often than giving people narcotics.

There are creams, topical creams. Anti-inflammatory creams. Joint relieving bio-freezes and Ben-Gay type of creams that people also can use. And we have some over the counter as well as some prescription based types of creams as well. Injections are another method that obviously we will try to use. And the idea there again is trying to decrease the inflammation and decrease the pain in the joint without performing a big surgery.

There are two types of injections that are typically tried, Cortico-steroid injections. A lot of people refer to these as the cortisone injection. It isn't actually cortisone that most surgeons or doctors are providing, but it's a type of a medication designed to decrease inflammation and therefore pain in the joint. A lot of patients will ask us about these injections. "Is this going to make my arthritis go away?" And the answer is "Probably not, but it may make you feel better that you don't care that the arthritis is there." It decreases your pain and allows you to do the activities you need to do without having to have a big surgery.

A second type of an injection might be something that is commonly known as a joint lubricant, or some people hear it referred to as a chicken comb based injection. And that's based on the material that the companies are providing in these types of injections. What this is is the building blocks of cartilage. And when injected into the joint it may provide two potential effects, one of them being to act as a joint lubricant. When we look at it in the studies it may not be that that lasts very long, sometimes even only a couple of days of this lubricating effect in the joint.

But secondly what it does is it starts to, your body starts to break down these injections it also creates an anti-inflammatory reaction or response to suppress the inflammation in the joint as well. And these injections may last even longer, with months if not years of relief for those patients that are well indicated and have a good response for that. More and more we're seeing insurance companies and others have stricter criteria for patients that might be candidates for those joint lubricant injections, but nonetheless it's one of the other things that exists as possibility for treating pain without surgery.

And the final option is a surgery of some sort. And there are two types of surgeries in general for people with hip or knee conditions. One of them, arthroscopy or minimally invasive camera type surgery, and then the other being joint replacement surgery. The lesser invasive things like arthroscopy may not be suitable for all patients with arthritis though, and that will be a discussion best had with a surgeon.

Interviewer: So it sounds like before we get to surgery, is it your goal as a surgeon to try a lot of these things before you actually do the replacement?

Dr. Pelt: It's our goal, not because we're trying to make patients jump through hoops or delaying the inevitable, but we're trying to prolong the life of their native joint. So once again, when we're putting in a joint replacement, these are parts that may not last for the rest of these patients lives, and we want to maximize the life expectancy of the implant that's going to be replaced and some point, but also to maximize their function with the current joint that they have, without perhaps undergoing a major surgery. At least not yet, if that's inevitable for them.

Interviewer: In the next episode we'll talk to Dr. Chris Pelt about the similarities and the differences between knee and hip surgery. There are a lot of things you need to know about both surgeries that are the same, and there are a few differences as well.

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Interviewer: You've been considering a total joint replacement whether it be a hip or a knee and you're wondering if it's right for you. In this series of podcasts, we're not only going to talk about that, but if you decide to have the procedure, we'll give you some insight as to what you can expect before, during, and after.

In this very first podcast, we want to cover is a total joint replacement right for you? So are you a likely candidate for it? We want to make sure that you understand your condition. Why you should talk to family members, which is an important component of it. Plus, also, have you considered other more conservative measures before considering a joint replacement.

Dr. Chris Pelt is a joint replacement expert at University of Utah Health Cares Orthopedic Center. First of all, what types of joint problems can a joint replacement improve, because it doesn't fix everything.

Dr. Pelt: Joint replacement is designed to alleviate pain associated with arthritis of the hip or knee. It's a surgery that's usually performed after people have tried other conservative methods of reducing pain, and after pain interferes with ability to perform the things that they need to do, enjoy doing, and actually their quality of life.

Interviewer: Now who are some people that might not be good candidates?

Dr. Pelt: Well, anybody may be a candidate, but there are definitely people that may be at higher risk for complications or that may not be an ideal candidate to undergo surgery at that stage of their life. Certain high risk people might be people with morbid obesity or increased body weight. That increases their risk for decreased lifespan of the joint. It also increases their risks for complications like infections and other things. Similarly, patients with diabetes need to have well controlled diabetes. Smokers need to stop smoking before they can be a candidate for joint replacement, because it increases their risk of infections, poor wound healing, and even pain afterwards. So these are a few areas that we can perhaps medically optimize before.

We also want to ensure that the patient is the right candidate for joint replacement, because their arthritis is advanced enough on an x-ray. That means bone on bone type of arthritis. And that's something that you can see that with the joint replacement specialist or your primary care doctor even with an x-ray. And also patients that have gone through previous conservative methods trying to avoid surgery. We don't like to perform a joint replacement surgery on everybody simply because it may not last forever.

So if you're really young, there's a good chance that we're going to try to maximize the life of your native joints so that you can live longer and hopefully maintain your own joint before needing a joint replacement. Decreasing your need for potential future revisions of a joint replacement when you eventually do have that.

Interviewer: Yeah, so this sounds like some good common guidelines, but I think it's important to contact a professional such as yourself to maybe help somebody make that decision.

Dr. Pelt: Absolutely. Most of our patients will usually have gone through their primary care doctor or even non operative orthopedic specialist, physiciatrist, sports medicine doctors through some conservative methods before they reach an arthroplasty surgeon. And what that does is allow them to have an optimization of that conservative treatment before a surgery is offered.

Interviewer: Do you have other resources that somebody may want to consult?

Dr. Pelt: Absolutely. We have the University of Utah website where if you go to the Health Sciences website, and the Department of Orthopedics, our joint replacement center. It has a great resource of information about what is hip and knee replacement, what are hip and knee arthritis, what are my treatment options. It's a great starting point that allows you to start to get a little bit of information about this as well as the opportunity for you to seek an appointment and meet the providers. There's good biographies on the website so you can learn about the providers and even make an appointment right there if you want.

Interviewer: And this isn't a decision I will necessary make on my own. I guess what I'm getting at is if I decided maybe this replacement is right for me, I've already talked to somebody extensively about it at this point.

Dr. Pelt: Yeah, some people will have gone through their primary care doctor and other non operative doctors. Some people just know they have arthritis, have talked to their family. I think it's really important to realize this is a big decision. It's a very big surgery. You want to take the time to talk to your families, talk to your care providers, and meet with your surgeons if it's ultimately felt that joint replacement is right for you.

In the end, when we've tried all those conservative treatments, avoiding the surgery, the time to consider doing a joint replacement is, when pain is not being controlled with those other things and now pain as primarily pain interferes with three components of your life. It's the things you need to do and those are the things like going to work, caring for yourself, caring for your family, caring for your home. Those day to day activities of daily living.

The second aspect of life that is interfered with pain is the activities of leisure and enjoyment. Those things you like to do whether it's gardening, skiing, hiking, walking, riding bicycles. Any of those types of activities that you want to be doing more of, but pain is prohibiting you from doing that.

And the third component is the quality of life. It's your ability to be happy. One of my patients told me it's their ability to smile everyday. When pain is starting to impact your life to such a point that you're grumpy and you're not smiling, that's a good indicator that it's time to talk to somebody about this.

Interviewer: Coming up in a couple of more the podcast we're going to cover specifically if you're considering a knee or hip replacement, the similarities and the differences. Then also in the series of podcasts, if you decide that this is something that you want to do we'll give you some information as to how you can prepare for your surgery and what to expect after

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