Latest hip replacement surgery has patients in and out same day

7:30 a.m.: Hip replacement surgery

Noon: Take a walk

2 p.m.: Go up the stairs at the new Rehabilitation Gym

4:30 p.m.: Get discharged to go home

Evening: Sleep in own bed.

It is all in a day's work.

Linda Fisher, a nurse and surgical clinical reviewer at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital was the first patient to go home the same day after hip replacement surgery at Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Ill. last month.

Linda, 58, became intrigued with this option when she attended an orthopedic service line meeting recently at the hospital. For Linda, the experience demonstrated that working at Advocate certainly has its benefits. She talked to Dr. Jeremy Oryhon, an orthopedic surgeon at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital and learned she would be a candidate for the one day joint replacement.

"The benefits of same day surgery are tremendous, like the fact that you can sleep in your own bed and the lack of exposure to germs," she explains. "I was experiencing tremendous hip pain at the time, and it was difficult to walk. When I learned of the option, I became very interested."

"Being able to return home and recover there as soon as possible is preferable to being in the hospital," says Dr. Oryhon. "As joint replacement has evolved over the years, one aspect of this is a change in thinking about this procedure. The level of care offered at a hospital is often much higher than is needed for the early recovery after a joint replacement. "

"We need to follow the joint replacement patients closely in an organized and supervised manner, but this does not necessarily have to occur in a hospital," Dr. Oryhon emphasizes. "We can transition patients to oral medicines (instead of IV) quickly that can be self-administered. This allows patients to be comfortable for very early mobilization and for early discharge to home, and to remain so once they are home."

Dr. Oryhon warns there are downsides to the same day surgery and not every patient is a candidate for same day discharge joint replacement. "It takes a very healthy and motivated patient who has a good home support structure to be successful in this new protocol. Linda fit this criteria perfectly."

And now, just one month after surgery, Linda is back working full-time at her job at Good Shepherd Hospital. For two weeks after the surgery, Linda received Advocate at Home care and then outpatient physical therapy.

"I am so thankful that I had the hip replacement. After just three weeks, I was walking better than I did before the surgery."