Ra­pid Re­co­very with Ge­lenks­fit­plus+: Early Mo­bi­liza­tion Af­ter Hip or Knee Replacement

1. Pre­pa­ra­tion be­fore surgery

The tre­at­ment pa­thway be­g­ins even be­fore the day of sur­gery. Pa­ti­ents re­ceive clear in­for­ma­tion about the pro­ce­dure, mo­bi­liza­tion, and the time the­re­af­ter. Pre-exis­ting con­di­ti­ons, me­di­ca­ti­ons, an­es­the­sia risks, and per­so­nal life si­tua­tion are ta­ken into ac­count. Which ex­ami­na­ti­ons or pre­pa­ra­tory me­a­su­res are ne­ces­sary is de­ter­mi­ned individually. 

2. Sur­gery, an­es­the­sia, and pain therapy

Sur­gi­cal pro­ce­du­res, im­plants, and an­es­the­sia are cho­sen to match the dia­gno­sis and per­so­nal cir­cum­s­tances. A coor­di­na­ted pain con­cept aims to ade­qua­tely con­trol dis­com­fort while en­ab­ling early mo­ve­ment. “Mul­ti­mo­dal” me­ans that va­rious me­a­su­res are com­bi­ned in­s­tead of re­ly­ing so­lely on a sin­gle painkiller. 

3. First mo­bi­liza­tion on the day of surgery

If cir­cu­la­tion, pain, and ge­ne­ral con­di­tion al­low, mo­bi­liza­tion be­g­ins on the day of sur­gery. Un­der gui­dance, safe mo­ve­ment se­quen­ces are prac­ti­ced first: sit­ting up, stan­ding up, wal­king short di­stances with a sui­ta­ble wal­king aid, and ma­na­ging ever­y­day trans­fers. If mo­bi­liza­tion on the same day is not pos­si­ble for me­di­cal or or­ga­niza­tio­nal re­asons, it will be ad­jus­ted ac­cor­din­gly. This is not a fail­ure of the program. 

4. Di­scharge ba­sed on func­tional criteria

Ge­lenks­fit­plus+ does not set a fi­xed di­scharge day for ever­yone. The de­cisive fac­tor is whe­ther the me­di­cal and func­tional re­qui­re­ments are met. These may in­clude sta­ble cir­cu­la­tion, ade­qua­tely con­trol­led pain, an un­re­mar­kable wound, as well as safe wal­king and the ne­ces­sary daily mo­ve­ments. Home care and the fur­ther re­ha­bi­li­ta­tion plan are also included. 

What ad­van­ta­ges can a Fast Track pro­gram have?

Well-im­ple­men­ted ERAS pro­grams can sup­port early func­tional re­co­very and avoid un­neces­sary de­lays in the tre­at­ment pro­cess. In­ter­na­tio­nal stu­dies and gui­de­lines show that early re­ha­bi­li­ta­tion can shor­ten hos­pi­tal stays. A struc­tu­red pro­cess also im­pro­ves coor­di­na­tion among pro­fes­sio­nal groups and ac­tively in­vol­ves patients. 

It is im­portant to clas­sify cor­rectly: “fas­ter” does not mean that he­al­ing is forced or risks di­s­ap­pear. It is about im­ple­men­ting evi­dence-ba­sed me­a­su­res at the right time and plan­ning di­scharge only when it is me­di­cally justifiable. 

Is Ge­lenks­fit­plus+ sui­ta­ble for all patients?

Ge­lenks­fit­plus+ is ai­med at pa­ti­ents with a plan­ned hip or knee re­pla­ce­ment. Whe­ther all ele­ments can be im­ple­men­ted as in­ten­ded de­pends, among other things, on the ge­ne­ral he­alth sta­tus, com­or­bi­di­ties, in­itial phy­si­cal con­di­tion, the spe­ci­fic pro­ce­dure, and the post-ope­ra­tive course. 

Ad­van­ced age alone does not au­to­ma­ti­cally ex­clude a struc­tu­red tre­at­ment pa­thway. Ho­we­ver, ad­jus­t­ments may be ne­ces­sary in ca­ses of in­creased me­di­cal risk, li­mi­ted mo­bi­lity, or lack of sup­port at home. The de­cis­ion is al­ways made in­di­vi­du­ally by the trea­ting team. 

What Ge­lenks­fit­plus+ does not mean

• No di­scharge at any cost: Safety and func­tional cri­te­ria take precedence.
• No pain-free sta­tus from day one: Dis­com­fort af­ter sur­gery is pos­si­ble and will be treated.
• No uni­form weight-bea­ring for ever­yone: How much weight can be pla­ced on the ope­ra­ted leg de­pends on the pro­ce­dure and the doc­tor’s instructions.
• No sub­sti­tute for fol­low-up tre­at­ment and re­ha­bi­li­ta­tion: Exer­ci­ses, check-ups, and a gra­dual in­crease in load re­main important.
• No gua­ran­tee for a spe­ci­fic course: Re­co­very and length of stay can vary individually.

The sui­ta­ble hip or knee pro­sthe­sis re­mains an in­di­vi­dual decision

Ge­lenks­fit­plus+ de­scri­bes the en­tire tre­at­ment pa­thway, not the sel­ec­tion of a spe­ci­fic pro­sthe­sis. Whe­ther a joint re­pla­ce­ment is even ad­vi­sa­ble for ad­van­ced hip os­teo­ar­thri­tis or knee os­teo­ar­thri­tis de­pends on the dia­gno­sis, sym­ptoms, age, ac­ti­vity le­vel, com­or­bi­di­ties, and in­di­vi­dual cir­cum­s­tances. If a pro­sthe­sis is in­di­ca­ted, a to­tal joint re­pla­ce­ment, a par­tial pro­sthe­sis, or other pro­ce­du­res may be con­side­red, de­pen­ding on the fin­dings. Mi­ni­mally in­va­sive ap­proa­ches for hip pro­s­the­ses, as well as na­vi­ga­tion or sur­gi­cal ro­bots for knee pro­s­the­ses, are not used in­dis­cri­mi­na­tely but are cho­sen ac­cor­ding to me­di­cal indication.