Non-operative Hip and Knee Arthritis Clinic
UW Health Orthopedics and Rehabilitation offers a non-operative hip and knee arthritis clinic.
Who is the Hip and Knee Arthritis Clinic for?
The clinic is designed to meet the needs of patients with obesity and joint problems who are looking to decrease their weight to meet surgical criteria for joint replacement surgery. The clinic is for people with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis or other joint diseases of the knee or hip, who have a body mass index greater than 40.
Obesity and Joint Replacement
For some people, joint problems such as osteoarthritis, may be caused or compounded by being overweight. Because of the additional potential for complications and prolonged recovery, significant weight issues must be addressed before joint replacement surgery is recommended.
Our Approach
Based on each patient's needs, our Hip and Knee Arthritis Clinic staff may discuss:
- Lifestyle changes, including exercise suggestions, that reduce stress on joints
- Nutrition counseling for weight reduction
- Strategies to address joint pain
- Referral to physical and occupational therapy to improve mobility and function
- Injections to temporarily relieve pain and reduce any swelling
- Viscosupplementation: A knee injection that replaces damaged joint fluid with a substance similar to healthy joint fluid in order to reduce pain and improve function
Referral
Once patients have been successful in weight loss and meet surgical criteria to be considered for joint replacement, they will be referred to one of the UW Health joint replacement surgeons.
