Saint Joseph’s Center for Orthopaedic Care offers a full range of services, including bone fracture realignments, knee ligament repairs, joint replacements, and soft tissue injuries. Severe fractures, prolonged pain, arthritic complications, athletic and work-related injuries, as well as deteriorating diseases are just some of the problems routinely treated at Saint Joseph's.
Of all the newest treatments in orthopaedic medicine in the last five years, the advent of more minimally-invasive procedures and techniques is perhaps the most extraordinary. The new technique typically means reduced scarring, significantly shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery times. Minimally-invasive surgery uses small incisions in the skin, lessening the effects of large muscle retraction, leaving the body nearly as intact as before surgery.
Many of the exciting new techniques and procedures in the field of orthopaedic medicine are performed daily at Saint Joseph’s. For example, Saint Joseph’s surgeons worked with the developers of the female joint which uniquely fits women’s smaller frames. In addition, Saint Joseph's offers a range of spinal procedures, including kyphoplasty for compression fractures, lumbar laminectomy, anterior cervical discectomy, as well as artificial disc replacement and fusions to relieve back pain and herniated discs.
Saint Joseph's is the first hospital in Georgia to offer the MAKOplasty® procedure which allows surgeons to perform partial knee resurfacing robotically through a minimal incision. “This is an alternative for people suffering from osteoarthritis or just plain ‘bad knees’ who have been told that they should wait for a total knee replacement,” says Ken Kress, MD, orthopaedic surgeon at Saint Joseph’s Hospital. “MAKOplasty allows me to treat patients at earlier stages of degenerative joint disease, reducing chronic pain and restoring the ability for an active lifestyle.” Most patients have a shortened hospital stay and resume normal daily activities within weeks of the procedure. In addition, there usually is decreased need for intense physical therapy.
Another innovative procedure in practice at Saint Joseph's is Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) to repair damaged cartilage in the knees. ACI is an option in place of arthoscopic surgery or where Total Knee Replacement (TKR) is not warranted. In this procedure, healthy cartilage-producing cells are harvested from the patient and implanted into the knee to repair and regenerate the cartilage. This results in improved outcomes because the patient is using materials from his or her own body, rather than donor cartilage.
The orthopaedists at Saint Joseph Hospital cover many different specialties—knee, hip, shoulder or spine-related—in fact, all aspects of muscular-skeletal medicine. The volume of surgical procedures stands as a predictor of quality and positive outcomes. Saint Joseph’s extensive experience, especially with the newest procedures, directly benefits the patient, as the surgeon is able to bring more nuance and assessment abilities to every surgery.
For more information on orthopaedic services, call 1-866-661–ORTHO or 1-866-661-6784.
