Your postoperative experience will largely depend on the surgery that you had. If you are having a hip or knee replacement you will receive a 3-ring notebook before your surgery that details your experience. In brief, most hip and knee replacement patient spend one night in the hospital after their surgery.
Typically, in the hours after your surgery, the therapists will help you get out of bed and walk. Walking early after surgery is very important as it minimizes your risk of developing blood clots or other serious complications. The morning after your surgery, the therapists will work with you again to make sure you are getting around safely and are able to do all the necessary activities to function at home (e.g. walking up and down stairs, getting in and out of bed or on and off toilet).
Patients who go directly home after surgery rather than a rehabilitation or skilled nursing facility often achieve a faster recovery and are at a lower risk of adverse events such as readmission to the hospital, infection, or wound healing problems.
It is important for you to have a postoperative plan for your recovery before you have surgery. You should prepare your home so that the transition from the hospital is as easy as possible. Ideas for this include preparing meals in advance, removing clutter or furniture that would be in the way of a walker, and placing useful supplies in areas that are easy to access.
You will be started on a multimodal pain regiment before you are discharged from the hospital and it is very helpful to continue to utilize the medications to minimize your narcotic usage. It is very common to have difficulty sleeping after a joint replacement. It can help to take your pain medication an hour before bed to achieve better comfort while trying to sleep.
Your incision will take about two weeks to heal. You should not need to perform any wound care as the incision will be covered with a waterproof dressing that allows you to shower normally over the dressing.
After a knee replacement, it is critical to work on your range of motion and you will be seeing an outpatient physical therapist two to three times per week initially with the goal of getting your leg completely straight and regaining enough bend in your knee to sit and take the stairs easily. It is very important to work on your range of motion early after your surgery to avoid a stiff knee. It can take several weeks to months to achieve your maximum motion.
After a hip replacement, your best exercise is walking. Physical therapy isn’t usually necessary unless you are having difficulty transitioning from assistive devices (cane, walker, etc.). Many patients are no longer using these devices when they return to see their surgeon two weeks after surgery.
Driving after surgery depends on which side was operated on and whether you are taking prescription pain medication. This will be discussed with your provider at your first post op visit.
If you have a history of smoking or other tobacco use it is critical that you are no longer using any nicotine products before or after your surgery as it can significantly impair your body’s ability to heal your wounds and cause other major, even life threatening, complications.