HOW TO DEAL WITH OSTEOARTHRITIS ACCORDING TO DOTT. PILI
HIP AND KNEE PROSTHESIS ARE A GOOD OPTION BUT THEY CAN OFTEN BE AVOIDED
Hip and knee arthritis are very common joint conditions and a leading cause to disabilities.
Fortunately, despite the degenerative nature of this condition for which there are no effective medical definitive treatment, surgery can help with new and effective surgical techniques.
These techniques include joint replacement as well as realignment osteotomies and cartilage transplant.
By employing these techniques, Dr. Pili often succeeds in preserving the joint, thereby conserving cartilage.
This is frequently achievable through procedures such as proximal tibia osteotomy, cartilage transplantation, or stem cell transplantation. The key is to provide personalized care tailored to various types of arthritis, utilizing the appropriate technique based on different age groups. While less active and older patients tend to benefit more from knee replacement or hip replacement surgery, younger individuals can derive greater advantages from less invasive and more conservative interventions like cartilage transplantation, stem cells, and corrective osteotomies.
This procedure enables the redistribution of weight to the joint area with more vital cartilage, allowing the degenerated cartilage to regain its function and avoiding the need for a prosthesis.
THIS VIDEO ILLUSTRATES THE RESULTS FOLLOWING PROXIMAL TIBIA OSTEOTOMY.
If the cartilage damage is confined to a small area, cartilage transplantation with mesenchymal or stem cells allows for the reconstruction of the cartilage defect, thus avoiding the need for a prosthesis.
If these techniques become unfeasible due to the progression of the condition, one can always resort to joint replacement.
Today, around 180,000 major joint replacement surgeries are performed annually in Italy.
Prostheses can be implanted using traditional, minimally invasive, or computer-assisted techniques. The latter, in particular, allows for almost absolute precision in results.
Total knee and hip replacement surgeries also have excellent success rates, with patients consistently amazed at how these procedures can significantly enhance their everyday lives, which were previously hindered by arthritic conditions.
