Jiffy knee replacement

@cathymw
They can be. There is a surgeon in San Diego who does a lot of videos and he teaches. He applied for the Jiffy Knee and was told that they don't do teachers, hospitals, etc. That may be why there is nothing out there in the literature specifically about it.

In my opinion as I have stated above, Jiffy Knee is primarily a marketing ploy around a technology that has been around forever. Whether one is doing a Jiffy Knee, a Nano knee, a subvastus knee, a mini midvastus knee, there are great surgeons doing each and terrible surgeons doing each.

My big problem with the Jiffy Knee is that, at least publicly, it only focuses on the means of entry and not all the other issues around a knee replacement.

@steveinarizona
Agree 100%! Physicians havce shared their knowledge and have always taught one another. Leaves suspician that this is not allowed with the "new" 'P & J' method.

And those horrific lengths of incision and what appears to be barbaric closure! I read that they have the replacement time down to 30 minutes. I don't want a rushed job.

I wish Healthgrades and https://health.usnews.com/doctors went into greater depths of the types of procedures to have the knee replaced.

Yes, a quicker leg lift recovery to me is very appealing, as my last recovery was so prolonged. So much to research. Wish I could be like the many folks who just go the their Dr. and trust them 100%. Too much at stake. One loses so much with an artificial knee. My exacerbation and agony that I had at the beginning of the week calmed down majorly due to increased NSAIDS, icing, rest and gummies (2.5 mg 1-2x/day). How long do I postpone the inevitable? The x-rays sure looked awful.

@cathymw

Health insurance companies require one to undergo unsuccessful alternative treatments before they will consider it "medically necessary". Hogwash but make sure you are doing those things (e.g., steroid shots, physical therapy).

My advice is to find the very best surgeon, listen to her, and proceed as soon as the pain interferes with your daily life.

That is not true if the X-rays show the damage. They may try to steer you in these directions. I do recommend the physical therapy ahead of time to help either the strength and endurance needed.
I’ve had one #1 done- been through all the hype and sales routines…

@cathymw

Despite my unsuccessful steroid shot in the knee, and a custom brace that was also unsuccessful, and the fact that I was badly (visually) deformed by my misalignment, my insurer initially denied me the surgery on the ground that it was not medically necessary.

I am a retired litigator and I know how to move the levers of power. After several days of legal threats and other procedural threats, I got the Executive in charge of my plan who had her staff walk my surgeon's appeal through the appeal process and five days later I got the surgery. From constant pain to no pain. We need medicare for all.

@steveinarizona
Whoa- sorry you had that experience. It shouldn’t be fighting every step of the way to get the care you need. Thank God you knew the avenues to push. Can you disclose the insurer?
I must have had better insurance?? The steroid shots are so controversial as to their effectiveness and plus it delays the ability to even have surgery. The braces that all of them sell are such a gimmick. So convenient that they have them available first visit. Right?
PT helped the best, along with NSAIDs and ice.
My old arthritic knee worked well today with 5 hours of getting the property ready for Fall. This is the one I had agony on just on Monday. I’ll have to deal with it eventually. I can’t imagine getting off the ground if I had my remaining knee replaced. So much you can’t do with a replacement. It’s a trade-off for sure.
Best wishes.

@cathymw
UHC

Oh boy... what a surprise.

I had a TKR using the Jiffy Knee method here in Mansfield, Tx with TMI Sports Medicine & Orthopedics. Dr. Shane Seroyer is the only orthopedic physician that I could find who specialized in this procedure. I was off pain medications in a few days, and therapy has been progressive and promising. I am 9 weeks post op and am able to do 80% of the things I use to. I still have some swelling but I believe it’s because I was swollen before surgery. From time to time I feel a slight burning sensation and when I walk too long I feel dull pain in the joint. However, I would take this slight discomfort over the excruciating pain I had prior to surgery. I am thinking about getting my other knee done as well.

Here are my search criteria:

1) Uses a muscle and tendon sparing methodology (subvastus; mini midvastus).
2) Does NOT routinely use a tourniquet (recent scientific studies have shown it is not necessary and may be counter productive)
3) Can and will do a bicruciate retaining implant ("BCR"). This one is probably mostly unique to me so others won't necessarily want or care about this one. I just like my PCL and ACL and want to keep them.
4) Will do a Functional alignment or at least a kinematic or inverse kinematic alignment. Put differently, the traditional method was mechanical alignment and that is no longer a good system.
5) Will use a robot assistant. It is necessary for a Functional alignment and a good idea for complex surgeries.
6) Is a revision surgeon. A revision surgeon is one who revises the work of others. For example, my surgeon is a revision surgeon and spends about 20% of his time doing revisions.
7) HAS EXTENSIVE SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCE DOING THE SURGERY THAT SHE WOULD DO FOR ME.
8) Great mind.
9) Great hands.

For most people, #3 can be ignored.

Finding a surgeon who meets all 9 (or 8) of these does not guarantee a great recovery period. There are still variables some of them uncontrollable. But finding a surgeon who meets all of them significantly increases one's chances of ending up an outlier on the positive side. For example, and anecdotal information is not statistically valid, my surgeon did check all the boxes and I came out of both my hip replacement and knee replacement without postsurgical pain.