inflammatories, the doctors say. "There are a
couple of different ways of doing things, and
every physician has their preference and drug
cocktail," says Dr. Berger. Dr. Kohen's patients
receive an NSAID like Motrin or Celebrex
along with oxycodone or Vicodin to help con-
trol pain in the days after surgery. Patients
also receive an elastomeric pain pump that
lasts up to 5 days and is "very effective" at
limiting post-op pain, he says.
Dr. Berger's patients receive a similar post-
op drug cocktail, but instead of a pain pump,
patients receive a shot of bupivacaine lipo-
some, which, he says, keeps pain away for
several days and is more convenient. "Thanks
to the style of surgery and sparing the mus-
cles, they have less pain," says Dr. Berger.
"But you still need to make sure they're com-
fortable."
Your patients are usually in and out, but that
won't be the case with total joints. Since
patients linger in recovery for several hours,
Dr. Kohen notes that these procedures should
be scheduled at the start of the day. "For total
joints, we have patients get here early in the
day, so if there are any complications or pain
problems we can get that under control," he
says.
You may need to contract with or hire a
physical therapist who can work with patients
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