THE ZERO IN ON ZERO PROGRAM HELPS TOTAL HIP AND KNEE JOINT REPLACEMENT PATIENTS GET BACK TO LIFE QUICKLY AND SAFELY. ONE HUNDRED leg lifts a day. Jim Griffith and David Kiihnl say performing these exercises prior to total knee replacement surgery sped up their recoveries. The ambitious regimen, championed by Mark Snyder, MD, medical director of TriHealth’s Good Samaritan Hospital Orthopedic Center of Excellence, was just one of many strategies that got Jim, 72, and David, 70, back on their feet. Jim knew that the methods of Dr. Snyder, a volume leader in joint replacements in the Tri-State area, worked. In 2007, Dr. Snyder performed Jim’s first total knee replacement surgery, replacing his damaged right knee joint with a prosthesis. A Vietnam war veteran and air conditioner salesman, Jim often crawled into tight spaces on the job. His knee, originally injured in Vietnam, became debilitated as arthritis progressed— making his occupation difficult and painful. “I worked in hundreds of homes a year, including those of nurses and doctors,” says Jim. “TriHealth Orthopedics and Dr. Snyder’s name kept coming up.” Two months after Dr. Snyder performed Jim’s first knee replacement procedure, which involved a three-day stay at Good Samaritan Hospital and intensive physical therapy, Jim’s mobility was nearly 100 percent. “I was able to do a full squat. It hurt, but I could do it,” says Jim, fit and trim due to regular home workouts.
ZEROING IN ON COMPLICATIONS Jim’s active lifestyle continued into retirement until his left knee began acting up in 2017. This time, he didn’t hesitate and scheduled an appointment with Dr. Snyder. “Jim had severe arthritis and a meniscus tear,” says Dr. Snyder. “A total knee replacement was the best approach for long-lasting results.
The only time we do a less invasive arthroscopic procedure to correct a meniscus tear in people with knee arthritis is if they have knife-like catching or locking episodes,” clarifies Dr. Snyder. Though Jim felt prepared for replacement surgery the second time around, he was heartened to learn that Dr. Snyder had pioneered an integrated TriHealth program designed to make the recovery process even better. Known as Zero in on Zero (ZIOZ), the program focuses on reducing 10 of the costliest and most debilitating adverse effects that can follow lower joint replacement surgery. This includes eliminating unnecessary blood transfusions by screening and treating preoperative anemia; lessening blood clots through the use of mobile compression devices and low-dose aspirin; and reducing opiate dependence with multiple pain control methods before, during and after surgery. When a patient has a medical risk that might impact the outcome of joint replacement surgery, Good Samaritan Hospital has systems of care in place. “By working collaboratively with our centers of care, obesity is improved, smoking stops, diabetes is better managed and sleep apnea is diagnosed and treated,” Dr. Snyder affirms. “This synergy is what makes Good Samaritan Hospital unique.”
EMPOWERING PATIENTS Dr. Snyder says patients of the Orthopedic Center of Excellence, which earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Advanced Certification for Total Hip and Total Knee Replacement in 2017, are educated about potential problems pre-surgery and provided tools to solve them. Jim attended a joint-replacement class prior to his second surgery in 2018, something he hadn’t done the first
“A TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT WAS THE BEST APPROACH FOR LONG-LASTING RESULTS. THE ONLY TIME WE DO A LESS INVASIVE ARTHROSCOPIC PROCEDURE TO CORRECT A MENISCUS TEAR IN PEOPLE WITH KNEE ARTHRITIS IS IF THEY HAVE KNIFELIKE CATCHING OR LOCKING EPISODES.” —MARK SNYDER, MD
CINCINNATI HEALTH & LIFE | WINTER 2019
CIN_Joint_Winter18_final4.indd 17
17
11/20/18 4:18 PM