Treatments - Dray Orthopaedics

Hip Replacement

Hip replacement is a well-proven operation for arthritis pain. It gives years of relief - 95% of replacements lasting 15 or more years, and many lasting 20-30 years. If you are 60 or older, a hip replacement has a 90% chance of lasting the rest of your life.

Surgery takes about 2 hours, you need 3 nights in hospital, and crutches for the first 6 weeks. Attending Royston Joint School before surgery means you will know what to expect after your operation, and have a better recovery. There are small risks of blood clots, infection, dislocation, slight leg length differences. But the most likely outcome is a good result with years of benefit.

Your Surgeon

Knee Joint Replacement

Knee replacement is a well-proven operation for arthritis pain. It gives years of relief - 95% of replacements lasting 15 or more years, and many lasting 20-30 years. If you are 60 or older, a knee replacement has a 90% chance of lasting the rest of your life.

Surgery takes about 2 hours, you need 3 nights in hospital, and crutches for the first 6 weeks. Attending Royston Joint School before surgery means you will know what to expect after your operation, and have a better recovery. There are small risks of blood clots, infection, stiffness, and temporary numbness beside the scar. But the most likely outcome is a good result with years of benefit.

Ankle Arthritis Replacement or Fusion

Ankle arthritis is much less common than in hips and knees, and is usually from old injuries. The younger, heavier, working patient is best treated with an ankle fusion, which gives reliable pain relief but the ankle is stiff - the other joints in the hind foot still move to compensate for this to some extent.

Ankle replacement is an option for lighter patients (eg: less than 85-90kg), and ideally retired, or lower-demand. The advantage is the joint still moves so feels more natural than a fusion. It has an 85% survival over 10 years.

YOUR SURGEON

Bunion Surgery

Modern bunion surgery is safe, reliable and not very painful - typically, people comment they had much less pain than they expected.

One or both feet can be operated on at once, and the recovery includes 6 weeks in bandaging, walking ‘flat-footed’ in post-op shoes.

Ankle Injuries

Many ankle injuries will settle with time and an appropriate functional physiotherapy rehab programme. However some injuries may require arthroscopy, ligament reconstruction, and tendon repair. This can often be done as day surgery, and you will be on crutches in a cast for 3 weeks, then into a moon boot and physio after that. Please make sure you have phoned ACC for all your old claim numbers (0800 101996). This can be critical to getting surgery approval.

Many ankle injuries are sprains, and will settle over 6-12 months. If the injury is settling, swelling is often the last aspect to go, often taking a year - swelling can be a sign of something wrong, but if you are improving, try not to worry about swelling on its own.

Most ATFL ligament ruptures will heal and don’t need surgery, but about 5-10% do not, and can go on to recurrent instability - rolling your ankle easily and repeatedly. Likewise, interstitial tears (or splits) in tendons often do not heal, and may need surgery. An osteochondral injury of the talus dome (a “chip” off the edge of the ankle bone in its socket) can cause a deep ache or pain, or a click - this can be treated with arthroscopy (keyhole surgery).

YOUR SURGEON

Heel Pain

Heel pain includes Achilles tendon injuries and pain, heel spurs, and plantar fasciitis. Most of the time, plantar fasciitis and Achilles pain will settle within 12 months. Initial treatment can include physiotherapy stretching programme, wearing a Strassburg sock in bed at night to hold the calf stretched up, gel heel pads, a cortisone injection into the plantar fascia (but not recommended around the Achilles).

Shockwave therapy from Boyce Podiatry or Hawkes Bay Sports Medicine can also help. If these simple measures haven’t worked, an assessment for surgery may be necessary. But try these non-operative treatments first as you will often then avoid any need for surgery.

common questions

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