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Page 6 of 14 Additional ConsiderationsSpecial Assistance
Please let your BridgeHealth nurse or Travel Care Coordinator know if you have any special needs for assistance with walking, standing or sitting, assistance with a wheelchair, toileting assistance, urinary catheter care, or help with activities of daily living such as washing or showering. BridgeHealth can help arrange any special assistance you may need.
Know Your Surgeon
BridgeHealth has gone to great effort to select the highest caliber surgeons across the globe. Our nursing staff attends surgeries in overseas operating rooms, observes the quality of aseptic techniques, and interviews the surgeons and their peers.
At home or abroad, you should feel comfortable asking your surgeon questions and discussing your procedural options, while being confident in your surgeon’s ability to assist you with your condition. A surgeon’s certifications, education, experience, and ability to communicate with you are factors you should consider in deciding if a surgeon is right for you.
As the premier international healthcare service provider, BridgeHealth carefully selects centers of excellence for our World-Class Provider Network™. Many facilities are accredited by bodies such as the Joint Commission International (JCI), TRENT, ISQua, etc. and are largely staffed by Western-trained, board-certified physicians.
BridgeHealth invites you to ask us about any data available for you to perform healthcare comparison-shopping and to personally evaluate provider services. We can answer any of your questions regarding your surgeon’s qualifications and experience as well.
What to Ask the Surgeon
The Arthritis Foundation recommends asking your surgeon the following questions before having joint replacement surgery: - What makes someone a good candidate for joint surgery?
- What are the risks involved in joint surgery?
- Would there be any other non-surgical treatments I haven't yet tried that would ease my pain and help me move more easily?
- How would surgery help my particular problem?
- What would not change after the operation?
- How long is the recovery process?
- What is involved in the recovery process?
- What type of procedure would you recommend for me?
- How often in the past year have you performed this operation?
- Can you tell me what the outcome (decreased pain, improved function) has been for most of these patients?
- Can you provide the names of several people I could contact to discuss their experiences with surgery?
Risks of Orthopedic Surgery
With any surgery, complications can occur. Although some complications are serious, most can be treated successfully. In rare circumstances, complications can include: - Blood clots. These clots in the leg veins can form as a result of decreased movement of your leg after surgery, as well as from injury to the veins during surgery. You will likely receive blood-thinning medications after your surgery to try to prevent clots from forming. Compression devices, such as elastic stockings, and exercise to increase blood flow through the veins in your legs also can reduce your risk. Intermittent compression is used during the procedure to further decrease your risk of blood clot formation.
- Infection. Infections can occur at the site of your incision and in the deeper tissue near your new hip. Most infections are treated with antibiotics, but a major infection near your prosthesis may require surgery to remove and replace the prosthesis.
- Dislocation of a hip joint implant. Certain positions can cause the ball of your new joint to become dislodged. To avoid this, don't bend more than 90 degrees at the hip and don't let your leg cross the midline of your body. Surgery usually isn't necessary to relocate your hip joint.
- Loosening or a joint implant. Over time your new joint may loosen, causing pain in your hip. Surgery might be needed to fix the problem.
- Breakage of prosthesis. Though rare, your artificial hip can break several years after surgery. The prosthesis is FDA approved and the studies on the wear and tear sustained by a joint prosthesis are available. Another surgery would be required to replace the broken joint.
- Change in leg length for hip or knee replacement. Your surgeon takes steps to avoid the problem, but occasionally your new hip may make your leg longer or shorter than the other one. Sometimes this is caused by weakness in the muscles surrounding your hip. In this case, strengthening those muscles using the techniques given to you by the overseas physical therapist can resolve the issue.
- Joint stiffening. Sometimes the soft tissues around your joint harden, making it difficult to move your hip — a process called ossification. This usually isn't painful. If you're at risk of ossification, your doctor may recommend medications or radiation therapy to prevent it from happening.
Be sure to write down your concerns and questions and review them with your surgeon at the time of your consult. They will freely discuss these issues with you.
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