Surgery
In most cases, people can manage their
osteoarthritis symptoms with medicine and lifestyle
changes. But surgery may be an option
if:
- You have very bad pain.
- You have lost a lot
of
.
- You have tried medicine and
other treatments, but they haven't helped.
- Your overall health is
good.
One Man's Story: 
Steve, 55 "I wasn't sure about having surgery
since I was so young. I had heard that an artificial hip could give out in 10
to 20 years ... But when the medicine I was taking stopped working, I figured
I had gone as far as I could go with this, and decided to go ahead with the
surgery ... It's a strange feeling to be able to walk without a limp and to
walk up and down stairs without grabbing on to the railing."—Steve Read more about Steve and how he learned to cope with arthritis. |
Surgery Choices
Types of surgery for arthritis
include:
- . This joins (fuses)
two bones in a damaged joint so that the joint
won't bend. Doctors may use it to treat
arthritis of the spine, ankles, hands, and feet. In rare
cases, it's used to treat the knees and hips.
- Arthroscopy can help
relieve pain for a short time and allow the joints to move better. In some
cases, the relief lasts a long time.
Arthroscopy may help delay surgery to replace the
joint that hurts. But it doesn't seem to help
the arthritis itself.7 It may work best for people who
have pain or a hard time moving when their joints become
“locked" or stuck because of loose
or bone fragments. See a picture of .
- Hip resurfacing surgery. This is most often done in younger, more active people
who have pain and disability caused by a badly
damaged hip.
- Joint replacement. This is done when other treatments haven't worked
and damage to the joint can be seen on X-rays.
It involves surgery to replace the ends of bones in a damaged joint.
The surgery creates new joint surfaces. Learn more about:
- Osteotomy. This is done to correct certain
defects in the hip and knee. In most cases, it's done in active people younger
than 60 who have mild arthritis and want to delay surgery to replace their hip
or knee.
- Small joint surgery.
This is used if pain in the joints of
the hands or feet is so bad that a person can't use those joints. In
some cases, doctors will replace joints in the toe. But this is rarely done in
young, active people.