Blog
“Do I have a date for my surgery?”
Short answer: Likely not, but we have you on our list, if you have signed consent for surgery.
Long answer:
At the time of this edit, Humber River Hospital is currently working at 100% surgical capacity. We unfortunately have slightly longer waitlists than prior to COVID, due to the numerous surgical shutdowns caused by previous waves of the pandemic. Because of the uncertainty of future waves of the pandemic shutting down surgery in the future, our operating room schedule is only being released 3 months at a time. So, if your wait is longer than 3 months, we don’t yet have a specific date for you.
Please wait for our Administrator to call you for your surgical date. As of now, the wait for surgery from the time you signed consent is approximately 6-8 months.
Please note that once you get called for your surgical date:
- We will arrange for you to be seen in the pre-admission before your surgery
- Please let us know if you are sick with COVID prior to your pre-admission clinic appointment. We will let you recover prior to your surgery and you will NOT go to the back of the line.
- You will be allowed one visitor to accompany you to your surgery.
- Knee replacements, hip replacements and ACL reconstruction will be done under a spinal anesthetic, if possible.
- Expect to leave hospital the same day of surgery.
- One visitor is allowed on the wards at this time, if you were to be admitted.
Dr. Cayen is pleased to announce that he is currently performing Robotic-Assisted Total Knee Replacements. Humber has acquired the ZimmerBiomet ROSA robot, the first ROSA robot in Canada. This advanced piece of technology uses x-rays to create a 3-dimensional map of a patient’s leg, and uses that data to help the surgeon better “balance” a knee replacement. Traditionally, surgeons use a 2-dimensional x-ray and “feel” the balance in the knee during the procedure. The ROSA robot however uses data collected before and during surgery to help the surgeon dial-in a balanced knee. At the time of writing, all patients receiving Total Knee Replacements with Dr. Cayen will receive the benefit of this technology. No need to ask!
Currently at Humber River Hospital, Drs. Rodriguez, Heller and Cayen are performing knee replacements using the ROSA robot.
Dr. Cayen would like to thank ZimmerBiomet, Dr. Rodriguez and the Humber Administration for championing the effort to acquire this exceptional piece of advanced technology.
Building from the success of our Same Day Hip Replacement program, Humber River Hospital has launched a Same-Day KNEE Replacement Program (SKiP). Now, patients do not need to stay overnight in hospital after a knee replacement. Given the current environment, this is welcome news for patients who need knee replacement surgery, but want to keep their hospital stay as short as possible.
What Makes Same Day Knee Replacement Possible at Humber River Hospital?
Our entire surgical team and the patient is involved to accelerate the initial phases of recovery after knee replacement:
- Our anesthesiologists are using a short-acting spinal anesthetic, which makes patients comfortable during the surgery, but wears off fast enough to allow patients to walk the same day.
- The surgeon injects a mixture of local anesthetic into the patient’s knee during surgery.
- Patients receive a special combination of medications to decrease nausea after surgery.
- Our physiotherapists are now staying at work later in the day in order to get patients up walking after surgery.
- The anesthesiologist administer a special nerve block just prior to the knee replacement. The patient then takes home a bottle with local anesthetic, which will deliver pain medication directly to the knee for 3 days after surgery.
- The anesthesiologist gives the patient a call in the days after surgery to see if they’re having any trouble with the local anesthetic bottle.
- The patient is instructed how to remove the catheter from the thigh on the third day after surgery. (It’s pretty simple: Pull out the filament, apply pressure with gauze for 2 minutes then apply a simple band-aid.)
- A handout for patient information can be found here. Please note, different surgeons will provide slightly different medication prescriptions for patients to take at home.
As Humber River Hospital begins to resume scheduled surgery, it is important to do so while keeping everyone safe from COVID-19. Added precautions have been put in place:
- If you have a scheduled surgery coming up with Dr. Cayen, you will be asked to obtain a COVID-19 test at the pre-admission clinic 3 days prior to your surgery.
- After you have your COVID-19 test 3 days before surgery, you are asked to self-isolate until you have your surgery
- If you have symptoms of cough, fever, shortness of breath or other respiratory symptoms before your surgery, please let Dr. Cayen’s office know. We will need to delay your surgery until after you recover.
- If you test positive for COVID-19, please let Dr. Cayen’s office know. We will need to delay your surgery until after you recover.
DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is intended to help current and prospective patients of Dr. Cayen understand joint disease as well as treatment options available. It is also meant to provide background information to prospective patients such that their visit with their doctor is most helpful. This website is not meant to provide specific medical advice, treat or diagnose any medical condition. It is not meant to take the place of a visit with your doctor or Dr. Cayen.
About Dr. Cayen
Dr. Barry Cayen is an orthopedic surgeon at Humber River Hospital, specializing in adult hip and knee replacements, sports surgery of the knee, and trauma. He performs Total Hip Replacement Surgery using the Direct Anterior approach with a Hana table.