What Are the Types of Orthopedic Surgeries?

Some of the most common orthopedic surgeries include:

• Knee replacement: The knee is one of the most used joints in the body, often overused to the point of injury.
  • The cartilage in the joint can be damaged, restricting movement or making it very painful to move.
  • Various reasons can damage the knee, including trauma to the knee, bursitis, and obesity.
• Hip replacement: The hip is made up of the acetabulum (the socket) and femoral head (the ball).
  • The cartilage in the hip (like that in the knee) can wear over time, especially if damaged due to trauma, poor bone health, or congenital issues. 
  • There are two types of hip replacement surgeries: either the entire joint is replaced or there is the replacement of only the damaged part of the joint (Birmingham hip resurfacing).
• Shoulder replacement: The shoulder joint is a shallow joint, which endures a lot of stress regularly, thus making it liable for damage and movement restriction.
  • Typically, the upper part of the humerus (bone in the upper arm) is removed and replaced with a metal ball (prosthesis). A plastic replacement is then inserted to replace the damaged part of the socket.
• Joint fusion: Generally performed on the feet, ankles, spine, or fingers.
  • During this surgery, cartilage is taken from an uninjured part of the body and grafted into an area where the cartilage has been damaged. 
  • Once this is done, the bones on either side are fused to help stabilize the joint.
• Spinal fusion: Performed to join the vertebrae together to provide more stability to the spine or to repair damage to the spine.
• Revision joint surgery: Often required when the patient has a defective implant or when an older implant has failed.
  • Implants fail for a variety of reasons, such as polyethylene (plastic) wearing, loosening, dislocation, or deep infection.
• Internal fixation of bones: Helps place fragments of bones together and keeps them in place using pins, screws, or plates so that they can heal.
• Osteotomy: Helps correct the deformity in children, thus allowing bone growth.
  • Used to improve the weight-bearing position of the lower leg in people with osteoarthritis of the knee and includes procedures, such as bunion surgery.
• Rotator cuff repair: The rotator cuff plays a key role in shoulder movement. A tear in the cuff can limit the range of motion and cause pain. 
  • These tears can be repaired with surgery to relieve pain and improve the strength and functioning of the shoulder.
• Autograft (bone grafting): Biologic tissue, such as bone marrow, skin biopsy, cartilage, and bone, from the patient’s own body, is used to surgically replace damaged tissues.
  • Used to repair complex bone fractures or fractures that fail to heal properly and to treat bone tumors.
• Laminectomy: A surgical procedure in which part of the posterior bony arch or lamina, of a vertebra, is removed allowing access to the disk.
  • Performed to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots that emerge from the spinal canal and to treat a slipped or herniated disk and spinal stenosis.
• Patellectomy: Surgical removal of the patella or kneecap after a bad kneecap fracture.
• Reduction: A procedure that involves the manipulation of a fractured bone or dislocated joint to the correct alignment. The procedure is often called reduction with internal/external fixation.
• Resection: A surgical procedure in which the surgeon removes part or all of a bone to ease pain and improve movement when diseased joints in the feet make walking extremely difficult. 
• Synovectomy: Involves the removal of the diseased synovium, the joint lining that can become inflamed in rheumatoid arthritis, causing pain, swelling, and disability.