Fast Track Total Knee Replacement

Dr. Sinukumar Bhaskaran – Fast Track Total Knee Replacement Surgeon

Fast-track defined as a hospitalization which provides the best possible evidence-based treatment and a hospital stay of maximum 3 days, uses fewer clinical resources with the aim of decrease preoperative morbidity and LOS. The treatment notion called “fast-track” is based on information, motivation and logistics and the use of available proof-based interventions within all aspects of treatment, care, treatment, anesthesia, pain management, etc. The final goal is to reduce the need for hospitalization to most of 3 days without additional resources – whereas maintaining very high patient satisfaction and extremely few complications. The reason for this review is to analyze whether fast-track TKA should be the default mode of care and to clarify whether it is justifiable in all kind of patients.

Fast-track TKA must be used in all kind of patients, though the procedures for patients having different age/gender/preconditions would be different. In reality, preoperative anemia in fast-track TKA is associated with an increased risk of receiving transfusion during admission, increased risk of readmission inside 90 days from the procedure, and enlarged risk of LOS of more than 5 days.