Common Types of Orthopedic Surgery

Orthopedic surgery is an operation that is done on the musculoskeletal system, which comprises of your tendons, joints, ligaments, muscles, and bones. There are several different types of orthopedic procedures. Minimally invasive arthroscopic surgeries are now competing with traditional procedures due to their quicker recovery times and less pain factor.

If pain and recovery time is a great concern for you, consult an orthopedic surgeon in West Orange, NJ for personalized procedures. The different types of orthopedic procedures include joint replacement, revision joint surgery, debridement, spinal and bone fusion, soft tissue repair, internal fixation of bones and osteotomy.

Traditional and Arthroscopic Procedures

A majority of orthopedic procedures are performed through the use of an arthroscope or traditionally. Open surgery might be needed in some cases but most operations fall under these two categories. Traditional procedures are more invasive and involve incisions made to parts of your body.

This makes them have longer recovery periods. Arthroscopic procedures are less invasive. However, it's still possible to experience complications with arthroscopic procedures such as surgical errors, and infections at the surgical site.

Procedures

Joint replacement procedures are among the most common orthopedic treatments available. These procedures involve replacing an injured leg with a prosthetic one and includes knee and hip surgeries. The procedures carry an enormous amount of risk and it's vital that patients are monitored for signs of complications after undergoing the operations.

Examples of risks involved include metallosis, a toxic condition caused by materials making up the implant finding their way into the bloodstream. There are also chances that the implant might fail. If the implant does fail, a revision joint surgery is necessary to remove it and replace it with a new implant. Revision implants are most applicable in cases where the implant was defective or had worked for a while and then failed.

Debridement procedure is done whenever a tissue has died and needs to be removed before healing can occur. In other cases, bones can also be removed in a debridement procedure.

Spinal fusion, on the other hand, is a procedure where the vertebrae are joined together to provide more stability to the spinal column or to repair any damage that had previously been done. And like spinal fusions, bone fusion surgery is where fractured bones are joined together through grafting so that they can heal.

Soft tissue repair procedures focus on torn ligaments and tendons, whereas internal fixation of bones is where fragments of broken bones are fused together using plates, screws or pins in order for them to heal.

These devices may need to remain inside the body. Lastly, an osteotomy is a type of operation for children with deformities, helping them to correct those deformities so that their bones can grow correctly.

Common Body Areas

Orthopedic surgery is usually performed in body areas such as wrists when there's a fracture of the distal radius or to release the carpal tunnel, ankles in sports injuries and workplace injuries after a fall, hips to repair the femoral neck or trochanteric fracture and to replace hip joints with prosthetics. The spine can also be repaired with procedures like spinal fusions, laminectomies or intervertebral disc operations.

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