Treatments and Procedures

Non-operative treatment an orthopaedic surgeon may consider

Good non-operative treatment has a specific goal and a planned reassessment point. It may include education, load modification, exercise, medication, braces or other measures selected for the diagnosis. Read Non-operative Treatment Is More Than Waiting (in Polish). The separate resource What Does It Really Mean for Treatment to Work? (in Polish) explains how to assess treatment through function, sustained improvement and the patient’s goals, as well as pain.

Injections and outpatient procedures

Injections, aspirations and other procedures have different purposes: diagnosis, pain relief or treatment. Start with Injection Treatments for an overview of different preparations and procedures. In some procedures, ultrasound makes it possible to see the needle and avoid important structures; separate guides also cover ultrasound-guided injections (in Polish) and joint aspiration (in Polish).

Arthroscopy and reconstruction

Arthroscopy is a way of accessing a joint, not a single procedure that treats every problem. It may be used in meniscal repair, ligament reconstruction, shoulder stabilisation or treatment of other selected injuries. Details are organised in Arthroscopy and Reconstructive Surgery (in Polish).

Joint replacement

Joint replacement may be considered for advanced symptomatic disease when pain and impaired function substantially affect life and appropriate non-operative treatment has not provided enough improvement or is unsuitable. Guides cover hip replacement, knee replacement and revision hip replacement. The Joint Replacement — Hip and Knee (in Polish) page leads to the same guides.

Foot and hand surgery

Foot, hand and wrist operations are selected for a specific deformity or disease, rather than the location of pain alone. Information on surgical strategies is available in Adult Foot Surgery and Hand Surgery; disease and procedure information is organised separately so that descriptions of a condition are not duplicated across individual operation pages.