The Knee Injury Bible by Robert F. Laprade

Author:Robert F. Laprade
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2019-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

—Julia Kennedy, digital specialist at Nike’s Los Angeles office

So you’re going to have knee surgery, but we’re not going to break out the scalpels just yet. Before the big day comes, there are still a few more hurdles to cross and checkpoints that must be met. Those tasks, or the presurgical checklist, is what this chapter is all about.

You know those pharmaceutical commercials in which the patients are always loving life and telling you how amazing the drug is and how it basically will cure your ailments, wash your car, and pay your bills? Then at the very end they quickly rattle off a laundry list of about fifty possible side effects that come with the miracle drug? The day before surgery is our version of that auctioneer-like voiceover. However, we do not want to rush through those potential risks at the rate of the Road Runner. We want to take our time. Therefore, we dedicate a whole office appointment to these risks and going over your final informed consent for surgery. In short, the preoperative checklist is about determining your personal risks of undergoing the procedure, so that they can be minimized, and also about educating you on the risks and benefits of the operation you are choosing to undergo so you are an informed patient.

The checklist is oftentimes intimidating and confusing to patients. Frequently, we get questions like, “Why do I need more blood work? I just did that.” Or, “What does my weight (my smoking, my diabetes) have to do with knee surgery?” Questions like these are extremely common and ones that this chapter aims to answer. Keep in mind as you read that some things we describe, like tests, labs, and so forth, are not the same for every type of surgery. For example, someone undergoing an isolated ACL reconstruction may have a shorter presurgery checklist than someone who is undergoing an operation for a knee dislocation, which may require not only ligamentous reconstruction but also surgery involving vessels and nerves. The checklist also varies by patient; for example, a sixteen-year-old otherwise-healthy high school athlete may simply have a once-over and some blood work, whereas a seventy-eight-year-old man with a prior heart attack or diabetes could have an extensive list of exams and lab work needed before getting the surgery go-ahead. That being said, we hope the explanations here leave you with an understanding of not just what presurgery involves but more importantly the when and the why.

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