NEW data released by Nuffield Health Newcastle Hospital shows the length-of-stay for orthopaedic surgery has declined by 40% in the past decade. The figures relate to patients undergoing a total hip or knee replacement.
The length-of-stay for a total hip replacement has dropped 42% from an average six-night stay in 2006 to three-and-a-half nights in 2015. For total knee replacement the decrease has been equally as dramatic, down from 5.8 nights in 2006 to 3.5 nights in 2015, a reduction of 40%.
Orthopaedic Surgeon Lee Longstaff said: “The past ten years have seen changes in the technology and techniques used for orthopaedic surgery which have reduced the need for lengthy hospital stays and improved recovery times.
“Incisions have become smaller and there been a reduction in the amount of trauma to the area around the joint by leaving tendons intact and sparing tissue.”
Nuffield Health Newcastle Hospital has been performing orthopaedic surgery for over 40 years and in 2015, helped improve the lives of 2,750 patients through orthopaedic interventions.
Lee Longstaff said: “In Newcastle we see patients with all sorts of conditions each year; people with arthritis following sports injuries, those who have developed painful joints due to osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis and those with congenital abnormalities. The types of treatments we’re able to provide today were merely pipedreams a generation ago.”
Earlier this year Nuffield Health revealed a dramatic rise in the number of hip and knee replacements in those under 55. The rise is attributed partly to the Baby Boomer generation seeking treatment to maintain active lives.
Nuffield Health Medical Director Geoff Graham said: “Nuffield Health has been involved in some of the most important developments in orthopaedic surgery. Our hospital in Oxford was an early home for the development of the Oxford Knee which was pioneered forty years ago this year – now used the world over.
“More recently surgeons working in our hospitals have begun using a new technique for hip replacement, which can mean patients are up walking in a matter of hours after surgery.”