10 Most Common Types of Orthopaedic Surgeries

What Is Orthopaedic Surgery?

Orthopaedic surgery, also known as orthopedics, is a branch of surgery that focuses on, treats, and cares for conditions involving the musculoskeletal system and its interconnected parts. These parts include the following:

1. Bones

2. Muscles

3. Joints

4. Tendons

5. Ligaments

6. Nerves

An orthopaedist (also spelled as orthopedist) is a doctor who specialises in diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal disorders. An orthopaedist can be divided into two types:

1. Surgical

Orthopaedic surgeons are those who perform surgical procedures.

Orthopaedic surgeons not only diagnose, treat, and prevent musculoskeletal problems but can also perform surgery.

2. Non-surgical

Non-surgical orthopaedists, as opposed to orthopaedic surgeons, diagnose, treat, prevent, and rehab musculoskeletal conditions.

It includes physiatrists and physical medicine specialists, as well as rehabilitation specialists.

However, for any orthopaedic treatment, an orthopaedic surgeon frequently collaborates with a large team of healthcare professionals, which may include,

• Nurse practitioners

• Occupational and physical therapists

• Athletic trainers

Top 10 common orthopaedic surgeries

1. ACL Reconstruction Surgery

Anterior Cruciate Ligament surgery, also known as ACL surgery, is a procedure that involves the repair or reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament, which is located in the middle of the knee. An ACL is a vital soft tissue structure that connects the femur (a thigh or upper hindlimb bone that articulates at the hip and knee) to the tibia (the inner and typically larger of the two bones between the knee and the ankle).

These types of injuries, whether partial or complete, are most common among athletes. Sports medicine physicians and orthopaedic surgeons typically perform ACL reconstruction surgery, replacing the torn ligament with a tissue graft to mimic or replicate the natural ACL and it is done arthroscopically and hence it becomes a minimally invasive surgery

2. Knee Replacement Surgery

Knee replacement surgery is a surgical procedure used to resurface an arthritic or damaged knee. People with severe arthritis or knee injuries are typically considered for this surgery, in which metal and plastic parts are used to cap the ends of the knee bones and the kneecap. Surgery to replace a knee joint is also called knee arthroplasty or total knee replacement.

The knee joint is affected by various types of arthritis. For example, osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that primarily affects middle-aged and older adults, causing the breakdown of joint cartilage and adjacent knee bones. Rheumatoid arthritis causes synovial membrane inflammation, which increases synovial fluid and causes pain and stiffness in the knee joint. Traumatic arthritis develops as a result of an injury to the knee cartilage. The primary goal of knee replacement surgery is to resurface damaged knee parts and relieve pain that other methods cannot reduce.

3. Shoulder Replacement Surgery

A shoulder replacement is a surgical procedure that replaces the damaged parts of the shoulder joint with prostheses, eliminating the source of pain and dysfunction. As a result, this surgery will assist a person in relieving pain, improving strength, and increasing arm and shoulder flexibility. Osteoarthritis, rotator cuff tear arthropathy, avascular necrosis, and rheumatoid arthritis are all common reasons for shoulder replacement surgery.

4. Hip Replacement Surgery

Hip replacement surgery, also known as hip arthroplasty, is a procedure used to relieve hip pain. It uses artificial implants to replace parts of the hip joint. The hip joints are made up of a ball at the top of the femur, known as the thigh bone, and a socket in the pelvis, known as the hip bone. The surgery involves the replacement of one or both parts. The surgery's primary goal is for you to be able to resume your daily activities and have a painless range of motion or movements at the hip joint with a stable and painless hip joint.

5. Knee Arthroscopy

It is a procedure in which an orthopaedic surgeon uses a small piece of equipment called an arthroscope to investigate, evaluate and treat knee problems. A surgeon inserts a narrow tube connected to a fibre-optic video camera through a buttonhole-sized incision. A high-definition video monitor receives the view from inside your joint. It is a less invasive surgical procedure used to diagnose and treat joint problems.

Most of the knee ligament injuries like ACL, PCL and meniscal tears are treated with this minimally invasive procedure.

6. Shoulder Arthroscopy

Arthroscopy of the shoulder is a minimally invasive procedure for diagnosing and treating shoulder disorders. Shoulder arthroscopy may be performed if a person has rotator cuff tears or a swimmer's shoulders, which is a pain caused by connective tissue rubbing on a shoulder blade. Small incisions and a few stitches are required for these procedures.

7. Ankle ligaments reconstruction or repair

Ankle ligament reconstruction or repair is a surgical procedure performed if the joint still feels unstable after a fracture. During this procedure, the ankle bones are repositioned to their proper positions and held together with implants or suture anchors. Following the procedure, the patient must wear a cast or a boot for some time until they recover. When the patient's ankle bones have healed, they can put pressure on their foot and participate in physical therapy to regain entire ankle movement.

8. Spinal surgeries

When you have frequent back pains time, and again, you may have to investigate and consider having spinal surgery. The good news is that you can recover from most of these back pains through non-surgical procedures. However, if you have severe back pain, experience abnormalities, or don’t respond to conservative treatment, it is best to have it evaluated and treated. Specialists will clarify and recommend the type of treatment or surgery based on the pain patterns, MRI REPORTS or issues you are experiencing. And it may range from minimal invasive procedures like a caudal epidural block to minimally invasive surgeries like microdiscectomy or spinal decompression and stabilisation procedures

9. Joint fusion