Dr. Steven Drayer

It's always good to see familiar faces around here!
Although, you as the patient, might have something else to say about that :) As far as we go, we're happy to see patients return to the office. It means you trust us and that we have taken good care of you in the past.

Here, pictured, we have a special patient where Dr. Drayer was able to take care of him for multiple surgeries. He originally fell and broke his femur into multiple pieces between his total hip and his total knee. Unfortunately, his fracture never healed and required a repeat surgery to realign it and get it to heal. After some additional minor surgeries, the fracture finally healed! This shows that unforeseen circumstances can occur beyond our control. Because of this patient's understanding and the skill of Dr. Drayer, his problem was finally solved. After all was said and done, both Doctor and patient walked away with smiles.

Here at Dr. Drayer's office we see the value in your return and we are happy to go above and beyond for your health and well being! We love to see you come back to our practice.

Do you have chronic pain or arthritis in your knee?

Your provider may recommend a knee replacement to get you back to living a pain-free, active life.

There are two types of knee replacement surgery: A total knee replacement and a partial knee replacement. Depending on how your arthritis has spread within your knee, you can be a candidate for one or the other- at any age in your life. Your knee has 3 compartments- inner, outer, and under the kneecap.

A total knee is only needed when all three compartments are bad. Partial knee replacements can be done if only 1 or 2 compartments are worn out. A partial knee replacement saves your natural ligaments and any of your healthy cartilage. Why remove these (as is needed to do a total knee) if you don't have to.

TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT VS. PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENT

Partial knee replacements preserve your ligaments, healthy joint cartilage and cartilage pad(s) that haven't been damaged by the arthritis (we can figure this out by examining you, looking at
x-rays and getting MRI's). Partial knee replacements are safer, have fewer risks at surgery and with recovery, are less painful and have a shorter recovery. Their final results show better mobility and function in everyday living and sport or exercise activities. They are often done outpatient as well. Total knees are better for inflammatory arthritis (rheumatoid, psoriatic, lupus) or knees that have widespread damage and wear. Also, for joints with severe wear and associated deformity (crooked or collapsed joints from long term arthritis)

HOW LONG DOES A KNEE REPLACEMENT LAST?

With robotic joint replacement (which is my speciality), both total knees and partial knees have similar survivorship. Both have a 10% FAILURE OVER 20-25 YEARS!! Think of what machine you have in your house (washer, dryer, t.v.) or own (car, boat, etc...) that last this long with that little failure from wearing out. And now with press fit or uncemented knees, the number that fail in twenty years is getting less. The old, traditional total knee is cemented and often fails from breakdown of the cement. Recognizing this, I began placing uncemented knees over fifteen years ago.

WHO QUALIFIES FOR A PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENT?

Knee replacements can be performed as early as your 30's and become more common as you reach your fifties and beyond. Because of the stresses in our lives, I am seeing knee replacements being needed much earlier than twenty years ago. At the younger ages, these are most commonly partial knee replacements. This means a quicker return to work and sporting activities. The beauty of these replacements (and also that of the robot) is that you don't burn any bridges. Should you get 20 years of good use from your partial knee (and it wears out, or your arthritis spreads with age), it can be easily be changed to a total knee. And if you're in your 70's or 80's, that doesn't mean you can't have a partial knee replacement. There is a growing trend to do partial knee replacements in our older population, so that they can heal more quickly- with less pain. Thus, they can get back to their normal life more easily.

Why do a big operation if it can be solved with less surgery?

If you would like to get more information about this, please make an appointment with me through my office at 517-371-3407

Or you can also go to the Stryker website at www.stryker.patients.c

A 55 year old male came to us with pain in his left knee. After diagnosis, Dr. Drayer found he had severe Arthritis with alignment deformity (You can see this in the before image (left).

He was feeling pain with standing, walking, bending, going up or downstairs, and doing just about anything in his daily routine. The patient's pain was labeled at a 7/10. The severity of his problem prevented him from getting access to most joint replacement surgeons. Being that, he was referred to Dr. Drayer.

Dr. Drayer, planned his surgery with a 3 Dimensional CT scan, allowing him to map out his alignment and final result, one week prior to surgery. As it turned out, the patient required a special type of knee replacement.

Dr. Drayer went on to perform a Robotically Assisted Full Knee Replacement. This procedure, removed the arthritis and straightened his knee. (You can see the results in the after image (right)

At 2 weeks, his pain was at such a low level that it was being managed with Motrin and Tylenol alone. The patient was done with Physical Therapy by 6 weeks and at 3 months post surgery he was completely pain free! (He even ran down the hallway of the office to show the therapist how well he was doing) Needless to say, He was very happy. This is just one example of the amazing results you can get with Robotic Surgery.