What is joint replacement surgery?

Replacing hips and knees
When basic activities of daily life, such as walking, working, shopping and recreation are inhibited or prevented by pain, it may be time to have hip or knee replacement surgery. Hip and knee replacements have put many Americans back on their feet and allowed them to go on living active lives. The decision to undergo a hip or knee replacement is a choice about your quality of life.

Hip and knee replacements are surgical procedures in which an orthopedic surgeon replaces a damaged joint with an artificial joint called a prosthesis. In the United States alone, hundreds of thousands of total joint replacements are performed each year. The prostheses are designed to enable the joint to move in the same way as a normal joint.

Click here to watch a video about one hip replacement patient's story.

Hip replacement
A technique developed by D. Kevin Lester, M.D., a pioneering surgeon at Community Regional Medical Center, is “mini-incision hip replacement,” where the surgeon replaces the hip joint through the smallest possible incision – providing an efficient method that greatly reduces the risk of infection and promotes a quicker recovery.

Is it right for you?
If you have pain in your knees or hips due to osteoarthritis, consider joint replacement surgery. Osteoarthritis stiffens joints, causing pain during normal daily activities. A joint replacement restores a range of motion to these arthritic areas by replacing damaged and deteriorated bone and cartilage with a synthetic joint. With a wide variety of materials and devices to choose from, our orthopedic surgeons can adapt the surgery to fit your specific needs.