In Orthopaedic surgery the amount of operations is vast and covers a wide range of cases, from simple cases to complicated revision surgeries.
A wide range of surgeries are performed with local anaesthesia in operating room conditions and mainly concern simple conditions of the arm or hand.
Another Field of Surgery is arthroscopy. This surgical procedure is minimally invasive. In other words, through 2 to 5 one centimetre holes and the use of microscopic tools, the surgeon can access a joint such as the knee, the hip or the ankle and deal with most conditions of the joint and the tissue that surround it. Blood transfusion is not necessary, since blood loss is minimal and rehabilitation is very fast and easier than with large incisions.
More complicated operations are always performed with anaesthesia, either general, epidural or local nerve block. These operations concern, fractures, joint replacements as well as corrective surgeries. Nowadays, surgery cuts tend to become smaller and therefore this leads to minimal blood loss and faster recovery. Nailings are considered serious operations that concern fractures of long lumen bones (femur, tibia, humerus) and are performed with the aid of an x- ray machine during the surgery. Metal rods are inserted along the bones through tiny holes. Patients regain full mobility almost immediately after surgery.
One of the painless operations that can be performed in the practice without anaesthesia is the injection of medical substances into the joint and around it (corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid), or other areas of tendon insertion or outgrowth.
Apart from surgical operation, what plays a major role in the treatment or the recovery of orthopaedic conditions is the use of plasters or casts. Plaster is used on upper and lower limbs when the fractures are in anatomical position or there is no substantial shift of the bone. It is though, a necessary measure to keep the fracture immobilized for patients that cannot be operated on due to contraindications.
Casts or orthopaedic braces are pieces of equipment that immobilize parts of the body offering pain relief or treatment when possible.