Importance of sleep

Did you know that a person’s sleep quality prior to a joint surgery can affect the length of hospital stay following surgery?

As the population ages and people remain active into their golden years, total joint arthroplasties, such as hip and knee replacements, are very common and successful procedures for end stage joint disease.

Many surgeons want their patients to begin physical therapy as soon as 4 days after surgery in order to maximize mobility and allow for full recovery and return to normal activities.

The sooner the patient is home from the hospital, the sooner they can start working on the rehab process. These are some strategies being used to enhance immediate recovery from surgery:

·       Pre-operative exercises, which allow the body to adapt to post-operative exercises more quickly.

·       Nutritional support: a high protein diet decreases the risk of delayed wound healing and infection.

·       Sleep quality: better sleep prior to surgery improves recovery and shortens the length of hospital stay after joint replacement. Low sleep quality is associated with pain catastrophizing (the tendency to magnify the threat felt by pain and to feel helpless in the context of pain), and more severe pain after surgery.

So if you are planning on having surgery, set yourself up for success by working on these areas. And see a good PT to get back to your best self!

Ding, Zichuan, et al. "Preoperative High Sleep Quality Predicts Further Decrease in Length of Stay after Total Joint Arthroplasty under Enhanced Recovery Short‐stay Program: Experience in 604 Patients from a Single Team." Orthopaedic Surgery (2022).