*United Health Care has named Beth Israel Medical Center a Premium Specialty Center for Total Joint Replacement for 2007-2008, recognizing our leadership in quality orthopedic care. This designation means the Beth Israel Orthopedics Department meets or exceeds the recognized standards of care for total joint replacement---an acknowledgment that we’re a hospital you can choose with confidence.

Knee and Hip Replacement

Steven F. Harwin, MD	Donald M. Kastenbaum, MD

Our joint replacement specialists heal patients disabled from damaged hip and knee joints. With the newest techniques and materials available to them, our knee and hip surgeons restore motion to these critical joints and thus, freedom from pain to thousands of people. Knee and hip replacements are made of high-tech materials and are designed with wear-resistant bearing surfaces such as enhanced plastics and ceramics. These sophisticated materials all work to improve the longevity of the implant.

Our knee and hip surgeons have extensive expertise, as a result of performing hundreds of total and partial knee and hip replacements and other reconstructive procedures each year. Our operating rooms for knee and hip replacements are outfitted with the latest medical innovations, such as laminar airflow systems to reduce the risk of infection during knee and hip replacement surgery.

The required hospitalization is decreasing for patients undergoing knee and hip replacement, with patients encouraged to return to a normal routine as soon as possible. The new minimally invasive knee and hip replacements have reduced the recovery time even more. Rapid recoveries for knee and hip replacement patients are facilitated by orthopedic physical therapists, and social services experts provide post-operative help at home.

Hip Replacement

An X-ray of a total hip replacement.

What brings a hip to the point of needing extensive surgical repair? The division's hip replacement specialists see patients with a range of different histories, including adults with:

• Osteoarthritis, which, with age, can erode the hip's structural integrity.
• Rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.
• Osteonecrosis, a bone disease that results in loss of blood supply to the end of the bone.
• Post-traumatic arthritis due to conditions such as fractures and dislocations.
• Failed or infected hip replacements from prior procedures, which often require revision surgery.

Without full and pain-free use of the hip joint, walking and the normal routines of daily life are severely limited. Our hip surgeons restore movement through such medical advances as:

• Total and partial hip replacement. Both minimally invasive and open techniques are available. These procedures restore quality of life to people affected by a badly damaged hip, with 95 out of 100 hip replacements lasting 15 years or longer.
• Osteostomy. This procedure is performed when realignment of the hip is necessary, such as in some cases of osteoarthritis and congenital deformities.

Knee Replacement

An X-ray of a knee replacement.

Patients who come to Beth Israel to surgically restore their damaged knees are in the best of hands, with total and partial knee replacements making up the bulk of reconstructive knee surgery. One of the newest and most dramatic innovations in knee replacement is minimally invasive surgery. Using minimally invasive techniques, our surgeons are able to replace a damaged part of the knee through incisions that are only three to four inches long, using special instruments to help properly size and align the implant within the patient's knee. Minimally invasive knee replacement techniques also shorten recovery time after surgery.

For a referral to a specialist in knee or hip replacement at Beth Israel in Manhattan or Brooklyn, call our Physician Referral Service at 1-888-244-3257.