INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The knee is the most commonly injured joint, especially among athletes, with over two injuries per every one thousand people in the U.S., according to The Consumer Product Safety Commission and The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. There are about 790-thousand total knee replacement procedures performed in the United States every year. Doctors at Midwest Orthopaedics have developed a minimally-invasive total knee replacement procedure to get patients up and running sooner rather than later.

From sports, to tripping, or just aging, knee injuries are quite common. Total knee replacement surgery has become a common procedure, offering relief from chronic knee pain and restoring mobility.

Dr. Richard Berger, MD, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, explains, “We’re doing a much better job with the surgery. If you had a knee replacement, for example, used to be out for months and months and months – you come to see me, you’ll be out of the hospital in three hours, you’ll be back driving and back to work, if you wanna be, in a week.”

Total knee replacement surgery, also known as total knee arthroplasty, or TKA, is a surgical procedure that replaces the damaged or worn surfaces of the knee joint with artificial components, typically made of metal and plastic. The surgery Berger performed is done through a three- to four-inch incision instead of a large eight- to 12-inch incision. Ninety-two percent of patients leave the hospital the same day.

This story was created from a script aired on WISH-TV. Health Spotlight is presented by Community Health Network.