Joint Replacement Surgery and Services
UPMC Orthopaedic Care consists of surgeons, consultants, and physiotherapists who are leaders in the field. We provide a wide range of joint replacement solutions and other therapies, using state-of-the-art techniques and equipment.
Joint pain does not always require surgery. However, if you have long-term (chronic) pain or loss of function in a joint, joint replacement surgery may be an option.
Whether it's a joint replacement or a non-surgical solution, our team uses evidence-based care, designed to help you live life to the fullest.
How to Make an Appointment
Ask your GP for a referral and contact one of our orthopaedic consultants at one of the following UPMC locations:
Providing you with high quality, comprehensive medical and nursing care is at the core of everything we do at UPMC.
Getting to UPMC
UPMC offers access to expert care within a short drive from home. We offer orthopaedic care in Kilkenny, Kildare, and Waterford.
Learn more about travelling to UPMC for care.
Many of our locations are accessible from the M9. UPMC Kildare is easily reached from Dublin in under an hour and is just off the N7.
Who Do We Treat?
It's not always older adults who need orthopaedic care. Some joint issues can arise due to accidents, sports injuries, or repetitive movement.
At UPMC Orthopaedic Care, our consultant-led teams provide corrective procedures for a wide range of conditions. These include:
- Rheumatoid arthritis: This is an autoimmune condition that causes joint pain and stiffness.
- Sprains: These are injuries that occur due to twisting, tearing, or overstretching.
- Strains: This occurs when a muscle over-stretches or tears.
- Osteoarthritis: In osteoarthritis, the cartilage that protects bones in the joint wears away.
- Impingement: This is damage, typically in the shoulder or hip, caused by rubbing or pressure on the tendons or nerves.
Care from Head-to-Toe
Hip and knee joint issues are the most common orthopaedic problems. UPMC Orthopaedic Care also addresses the following:
- Groin injuries
- Spinal injuries and related conditions
- Wrist and hand joint problems
- Upper limb conditions, such as the shoulders, elbows, or arms
- Foot and ankle conditions
Our Procedures
In joint replacement, our orthopaedic surgeons replace all or part of the joint with an artificial one, known as a prosthesis. Most modern artificial joints can last for 15 years. But some can even last longer than 20 years.
In consultation with you, our surgeons may recommend a whole or partial joint replacement. In a partial joint replacement, our consultants will replace only the damaged part of the joint.
The operation effectively relieves pain and immobility for most people.
Types of Joint Replacement Surgery
- Hip replacement: Our surgeons replace the ball and the socket of the hip with various forms of metal, polyethylene, or ceramics. Every solution is specifically designed for each patient's needs.
- Knee replacement: Our surgeons remove arthritic matter from the knee and resurface it with metal and polyethylene materials.
- Partial knee replacement: This provides the same benefits as a full knee replacement, but for only one side of the joint. This can often provide a faster recovery, but this is limited to certain patients.
Our experts also perform full or partial joint replacement surgery for shoulders, elbows and ankles.
We work in partnership with you to build the right treatment plan for your needs. First, our consultants will assess your current health. We will tell you in detail what to expect before, during and after the surgery.
In your recovery, we provide you with full-time, 24-hour care to give you peace of mind.
Non-Joint Replacement Procedures
Prior to surgery, our team may first try other treatments. These include:
- Medical therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Injections
- Joint-bracing
Partial and total joint replacement surgery
In some cases, joint replacement is necessary, especially for older people.
Younger, more active people often wear-out parts of an artificial joint earlier. They may also require our orthopaedic care.
In some cases, doctors may also use joint surgery to replace diseased or cancerous bone.
At UPMC, we have vast experience with the most modern surgical methods and prosthetic devices. Our focus is always on the patient and providing care with compassion and clinical excellence.
What Sets Us Apart
UPMC Orthopaedic Care including:
- Robotic-assisted knee replacement: We provide this service at UPMC Whitfield Hospital. Robotic-assisted surgery helps to improve your recovery time because of smaller incisions, among other benefits.
- Ganglion cyst treatment: This provides you with effective relief from fluid-filled lumps that form in the wrist or hand.
- Ligament and tendon treatment: We use arthroscopic surgery to repair damage to ligaments and tendons in the knee (such as anterior cruciate ligament injuries). We also repair labral tears (an injury to the tissue that holds the ball and socket areas of the hip together). We also treat damage to the cartilage in the hip and shoulder.
- Nerve repair: We use state-of-the-art surgery to relieve painful nerve pressure.
Alternatives to joint replacement
To postpone or even avoid having to replace a joint, our experts may choose a less-invasive treatment.
Non-surgical options may include arthroscopy, core decompression, or osteotomy. See more details below.
Knee Arthroscopy
This is minimally invasive and requires only very small incisions.
We do not recommend this surgery for arthritis alone, but it may be helpful for people with arthritis complicated by:
- Meniscus tears (these can happen when the meniscus cartilage tears and twists while it bears weight).
- Loose bodies (fragments of cartilage or bone that float freely inside the joint space).
- Some types of joint lining problems (sometimes known as synovitis, when the synovial membrane of the joint becomes inflamed and swollen).
In many cases, our orthopaedic surgeons at UPMC will gently insert a tiny camera at the source of the problem. They use the camera as a guide as they insert other tools to repair the damaged area.
Why Choose UPMC Orthopaedic Care for Joint Treatment?
Our specialists are highly-renowned in their fields and use the latest equipment and treatments to deliver care close to your home. There are many other reasons to choose joint replacement services and treatments at UPMC Orthopaedic Care, such as the professional service that our team of consultants and nursing staff provide.
Our teams are part of the UPMC Orthopaedic Network. This gives you the peace of mind that goes with having an expert network of healthcare professionals dedicated to you.
Additionally, we are long term partners of the HSE (Health Service Executive) and private insurers, and we work diligently to ensure everyone has access to high-quality healthcare, delivered in a timely fashion.
