herbal supplements and vitamins, wound creams and electrical stimulation devices.
The jury is still out on whether other measures before surgery help improve outcomes. Among them: physical therapy before hip and knee replacements and post-op physical therapy for knee replacements.
Some patients have weight-loss (bariatric) surgery before hip or knee replacement surgery, but recent research by Abdel and colleagues raises questions about that.
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The investigators found these patients had more complications than those who just had joint replacement surgery, regardless of their BMI. The complications included infection and instability and affected the success of the joint replacement surgeries.
“We think it may have something to do with the bariatric patients’ underlying system, such as their gut microbiome and underlying genetic host variation,” Abdel said in a Mayo Clinic news release. “Even though they lost the weight, the soft tissues and underlying collagen status were still of their original nature.”
Before undergoing joint replacement surgery, it is important to talk with your primary care doctor to ensure your health is good enough to undergo the anesthesia and rehabilitation associated with the surgery.