Waking Up Pain-Free
A Revolution in Pain Control after Knee Replacement
No one likes pain. And the crippling pain of severe arthritis of the knee is the reason most people seek a knee replacement. However, it’s estimated that 80 percent of people who could benefit from a knee replacement, don’t get one. They are afraid to trade one kind of pain for another — post-operative pain.
“Those days are over now,” declares Dr. David Dalury, orthopaedist and joint replacement specialist at St. Joseph Medical Center. “By far, the number one reason patients avoided knee replacement was because they were afraid of pain and loss of control following surgery.”
This dilemma motivated Dalury and his orthopaedic partners to come up with an innovative formula of pain medication that is injected into the area surrounding the knee—right before knee surgery is completed. “This is revolutionary pain control. Patients are instantly more comfortable when they wake up,” says Dalury.
“We took parts of many ideas about pain control from around the world. All good hospitals have pain management, but St. Joseph’s is the most state-of-the-art. St. Joseph’s anesthesia service helped us come up with the best formula.
“We combined small amounts of various medications that help each other work. This decreases the medications’ side effects because these small quantities work in concert with each other,” he says. “This prevents the nausea and confusion often caused by pain medicines.”
The process actually begins prior to surgery. “We start oral medication the day before the operation. Our experience has shown this decreases the patient’s perception and experience of pain before the pain stimuli begins,” says Dalury.
In addition to no pain, there are many other gains. “I’m seeing much quicker recoveries and patients gaining independence much faster,” says Dalury. “Their motion following surgery is improved, which makes it more comfortable to do the physical therapy that is so important for recovery.”
Mary Louise Eagan, who recently had her second knee replaced at St. Joseph, compares her two experiences: “This time I could do everything they asked me to in physical therapy — leg extensions, leg lifts and learning to walk with the walker. Taking steps hurt really badly before,” she says.
The orthopaedic nurses at St. Joseph also notice a huge difference. “It’s amazing. The patients just don’t have pain anymore,” says Janet Connolly, the Orthopaedic Unit’s nurse manager. “They also don’t have the side effects such as nausea, itching and urinary retention from the epidural pain medication they used to get.”
Eagan was grateful for this. “Last time, I had a catheter in my back that I controlled to deliver the pain medicine. This time I didn’t need it.”
