Although each procedure is different, knee replacement surgery usually takes about two hours. Your doctor will remove the damaged bone and cartilage and then put your new artificial knee in place.

The most common reason for knee replacement surgery is osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that affects mostly middle-aged and older adults.

We use the CORI Surgical System from Smith+Nephew for some types of knee replacement surgery. This advanced robotic technology is designed to help your surgeon plan and perform your knee replacement surgery. Benefits of the system include:

• 3D smart-mapping helps your surgeon develop a customized surgical plan based on the anatomy of your knee.
• No presurgical CT scan or MRI needed.
• Extra precision has the potential to preserve more of the healthy parts of the joint.

In a total hip replacement, your doctor will surgically replace a damaged hip with a new artificial joint. Hip replacement may be performed to replace a broken hip or one with severe arthritis.

In a minimally invasive hip or knee replacement, your doctor makes a smaller incision than in traditional joint replacement. This means less tissue damage, a shorter hospital stay and a faster recovery.

This type of surgery may be appropriate for you if:

• Your joint is stable
• You don’t have severe bone loss
• You have not had open surgery on the joint
• Your weight is appropriate for your height

Revision surgery, also called revision total knee or hip arthroplasty, is a procedure to remove an artificial joint and replace it with a new one. 

Reasons to have a revision total knee or hip surgery include:

• Relieving pain in the affected joint
• Restoring your mobility
• Removing a loose or damaged prosthesis before it harms the joint

Revision surgery is usually done to relieve pain from an artificial joint. Generally, your doctor will consider revision total arthroplasty only when more conservative measures such as medication and lifestyle changes have not helped. In most cases, increasing pain in the affected knee or hip is one of the first signs that revision surgery is necessary.

Less common reasons for revision total arthroplasty include a fracture (broken bone), an infection or a dislocated artificial joint.