Hip & Knee
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Our hip and knee specialists offer innovative joint preservation and replacement procedures, and are praised for low infection rates and low readmission rates.
We are nationally recognized for exceptional quality, and patient care initiatives that have led to better long-term outcomes and reduced post-surgical complications. Read more about our program distinguishments.
Thousands of patients have come to St. Louis from around the country to undergo hip or knee replacement procedures at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, as the program ranks in the Top 5 among academic medical centers in the United States by the large number of total joint replacement procedures performed annually, and is identified as a Medicare Center of Excellence. Learn more about our total joint replacement program.
Treatment Approach
Helping to shape the future of joint surgery, Washington University Orthopedics surgeons specializing in joint preservation, resurfacing and replacement are innovators in surgical techniques designed to preserve as much bone and function as possible. Patients who may benefit from primary total joint replacement include those diagnosed with osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis, osteonecrosis, post-traumatic arthritis and other disorders.
Robotic Replacement Technology
WashU Ortho and Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital utilize the latest in joint replacement technology, including robotic-assisted joint replacement. Robotic joint surgery is similar to traditional joint replacements, where a surgeon removes damaged or diseased tissue and replaces it with an implant. The difference is that it is done with the assistance of a robotic arm, which helps surgeons maximize precise cuts and patient outcomes.
Utilization of robotic technology begins well before surgery...with sophisticated surgical planning software. Using advanced imaging, WashU Ortho surgeons visualize a patient's anatomy with a 3D model and create a personalized joint replacement plan. Using that surgical blueprint, the robot allows WashU Ortho surgeons to cut only what is planned and make adjustments in real time, protecting healthy bone.
Put simply, joint replacement robots allow WashU Ortho experts to plan surgery in exceptional detail and then execute the plan accurately.
Robotic technology use is growing across the country, and WashU Ortho proud to be a pioneer in robotic joint replacement. Our subspecialists perform hundreds of these surgeries each year and conduct research on this technology.
Our goal at WashU Ortho is to get patients back to doing what they love, quicker. Using this technology helps us do that for our patients.
Young Adult Care
Specific disorders in young adults often are successfully treated with joint preserving operations at our Adolescent and Young Adult Hip Center. Among the conditions that can be treated in this manner include:
- Hip dysplasia
- Osteonecrosis of the femoral head
- Post-traumatic nonunion and malunion of the proximal femur
- Early osteoarthritis
- Old slipped capital femoral epiphyses
- Other developmental deformities of the hip and knee
Care for these younger patients is a relatively new and evolving discipline within orthopedics and is a result of studies in the 1980s that indicated most patients with hip arthritis diagnosed later in life had a mild, pre-existing hip deformity. Our hip and knee specialists work in conjunction with our pediatric orthopedic specialists and physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists, to form an extremely experienced team to accurately diagnose and deliver the full spectrum of both nonsurgical and surgical solutions. These young patients are commonly athletes, and we are fully committed to returning them to their sport and recreational activities.
For patients who are frustrated and in pain from a previously failed implant, our orthopedic surgeons are nationally recognized for revision total joint replacements. We also offer innovative techniques including hip resurfacing, a procedure that resurfaces worn-out joints rather than completely replacing them.
Rehabilitation for those undergoing reconstruction or joint replacement begins immediately after surgery. The rehabilitation team helps patients stand up and sit down, get into and out of bed, use a walker or cane, and progress through rehabilitation to enhance range of motion and strengthening around the joint. Programs are individualized for each patient based on their condition and type of surgery. In an outpatient setting, patients increase their ability to bear weight while walking, and strive to walk without an assistance device and rapidly resume an active lifestyle with minimal limitations.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has no control over third-party websites and does not review such websites. The university disclaims any responsibility for the content of third-party websites and the use of any information on these sites.