
Robert Fleetwood, 73, needed joint replacements in both knees, both to relieve his arthritis pain and to continue competing in athletic activities. And thanks to medical advances, Fleetwood was able to go home the same he had each knee replaced, in procedures spaced several months apart. A knee replacement “changes your perspective on life. It makes you feel so much more alive and dynamic when you’re not living with chronic pain that becomes debilitating,” Fleetwood, of Stuart, Fla., said in a news release. “I’m very happy now.” People used to have to spend a night in the hospital following a knee replacement, but improvements in technology, surgery and pain management have made it possible to undergo the procedure in the morning and be back home by the evening, Dr. Martin Roche, director of joint replacement at Hospital for Special Surgery Florida in West Palm Beach, said in a hospital news release. “We’ve come a long way in terms of being able to get people up and out of the hospital quickly, and that motivates them mentally, as well,” Roche said. Advances over the past five years that have led to outpatient knee replacements include: 3D CT scans that allow surgeons to plan highly personalized procedures beforehand. Surgical robotics and sensors that allow a high degree of precision and accuracy. Less invasive surgery that spares muscles… read on > read on >