Sherry T. I have had both knees replaced by the age of 50 by Dr LaButti which I am very thankful for so when my husband had issues I sent him there. Dr LaButti could have said surgery is needed but he did not, he said unless he was worried about how his arm looked or unless he was a professional sports person he did not need surgery. My husband was all ready for surgery but was so relieved when it was not needed…. So my story is I trust Dr LaButti to do what’s best for us.
My office has been flooded with patients who have had “Transitional Surgical Therapy” and it’s time I share with you what it is.
As you know I am very conservative when recommending surgery. I will only offer it when I believe the patient will IMPROVE their quality of life with little or no pain. On a frequent basis, I see patients who have been told they need surgery without having symptoms that would warrant surgery, or have had a joint preserving surgery, such as arthroscopy, that failed to relieve their pain.
TRANSITIONAL SURGICAL THERAPY:
~ A patient has knee pain from relatively advanced arthritis and cartilages tears. They are offered an arthrsocopy for a “wash out”. The pain relief is short lived and, within a few months of the first surgery, the patient is then offered a partial joint replacement. After the second surgery, the pain relief is incomplete and worsens over several more months. The patient is then told they need a third surgery to convert the partial joint replacement to a total knee replacement.
THIS IS TRANSITIONAL SURGICAL THERAPY.
It is better for the patient to have ONE, definitive surgery that gives RELIABLE, more complete pain relief, such as knee replacement, and have years of pain free living.
Rest assure if I recommend surgery it’s because I truly feel I will be able to improve the quality of your life. If you’ve been told you need surgery and want a second opinion I would be happy to see you.