Patient Education – Orthopaedic Surgery

Many people experience knee, hip & shoulder pain at some time in their lives. This pain can be as a result of a strain, an injury, a bone fracture, or joint dislocation, or due to an inflammatory or other disease syndromes and processes.

Whenever, you have pain that impacts on how you perform your daily activities or the quality of your life, you should seek the advice of your doctor to examine and evaluate the causes and severity of your condition, which may include blood tests and x-rays.

Often knee and hip pains can be resolved with conservative approaches, including: rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medications, and exercises and physical therapy.

There are times when you doctor may want to have the extent of your knee and/or hip pain further evaluated and ask the consultation of, or refer a patient to an orthopaedic specialist. An orthopaedic specialist/surgeon can perform more comprehensive diagnostic test which, may include an arthroscopic evaluation.

The performance of a surgical procedure to resolve a knee or hip problem is usually the option of last resort. Surgical procedures can range from minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery, (where typically minor repairs to cartilage and ligaments can be performed), - to - an arthroplasty, (where knee and/or hip injuries can be repaired, or joints can be resurfaced, or be replaced with a synthetic joint implant).

I will explain all the options, the surgical process and procedures, the potential outcomes for improvement with pain reduction, range of motion, and mobility, the risks of surgery, the required recuperative processes and medications, and what, if any, are the limitations following surgery.

A compilation of the questions our patients ask most frequently are posted on this website’s FAQ page. On this FAQ page, Dr. DiMaio and Dr. Watnik answer these questions in broad general terms. At Long Island Orthopaedic & Joint Replacement Service, we understand that the questions and answers supplied on this FAQ page will not address every patient’s issue, because we know that every patient presents their own individual issues and needs, unique experiences, requirements and concerns. Our FAQ page is intended to provide general information, because we want to give each patient some basic information; allowing patients, and family members, to ask the doctor more specific and in-depth questions, thereby improving the level of doctor/patient communication, as well as giving the patient a better understanding of medical conditions, treatments, and prognosis’s.

We hope that all visitors to this website avail themselves to review the questions and their answers provided on the FAQ page.