Henry Ford Medical Center - Grosse Pointe Celebrates Serving its 1,000th Joint Replacement Patient

Grosse Pointe Farms, MI (November 14, 2022) – When Donna Carloni needed to have her right knee replaced in February by Michael Charters, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon with Henry Ford Health and part of the Henry Ford Center for Joint Replacement team, the Grosse Pointe Farms resident had no idea she would be the 1,000th joint replacement patient to have the outpatient procedure at Henry Ford Medical Center – Grosse Pointe.

Two months later, Carloni, 74, celebrated her recovery by doing a little dance with Dr. Charters in his office during a follow up visit. “I told him ‘I want to thank you for all that you and your team did for me. I can dance again,’” she said.

Outpatient total joint replacement is a procedure that happens in a surgical center instead of a hospital and the patient goes home the same day.  The advantage is patients are walking earlier and more often which could lead to less pain and a quicker recovery.

Carloni, a retired teacher and paraprofessional, is not only dancing again but is also back to riding her bike and playing pickleball with friends each week.

After having her right knee replaced, Carloni knew that her left knee would also need to be addressed. “Dr. Charters answered all my questions and showed me images of what my right knee looked like from that surgery, which convinced me I needed to get my left knee done,“ said Carloni, who had her surgery to replace her second knee in August.

“Donna had severe arthritis and we were able to replace both knees through our same-day discharge procedure available at our surgery center at Grosse Pointe, and she’s very happy with the outcome,” said Dr. Charters. “As we continue to provide this service at our Grosse Pointe surgical center, more people in the community are learning about it and electing to do it this way.”

In fact, since Carloni became the 1,000th joint replacement patient at Henry Ford Medical Center – Grosse Pointe, Dr. Charters and his colleague Trevor North, M.D., have served more than 300 other patients, bringing the total to more than 1,300 patients who’ve received same-day joint replacement surgery at the location since 2018. Overall, Drs. Charters and North, have performed about 3,500 joint replacements at the Henry Ford Center for Joint Replacement Detroit and Grosse Pointe locations.

Experiencing joint pain can affect daily life routines. Not being able to walk around or go about daily tasks without feeling pain can be debilitating. But outpatient joint replacement can provide a less nerve-wracking option to address those challenges.

“For patients with hip or knee pain for whom medication and exercise are no longer helping, joint replacement is a viable option to relieve the pain and return to a better quality of life,” said Dr. Charters.

When to have hip and knee joint replacement is a personal decision that is different for everyone, Dr. Charters points out. “When your hip or knee arthritis pain is limiting you doing the activities you enjoy, that’s when a joint replacement may be a good option.”

It is estimated that each year in the U.S. orthopedic surgeons perform nearly 500,000 hip replacements and more than 850,000 knee replacements. According to research, the trend for outpatient joint replacement procedures is growing; they’re expected to account for 25 percent of total joint replacements in 2022 and 50 percent in 2026.

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MEDIA ONLY may contact: Sal Giacona / sgiacon1@hfhs.org / 313-421-9108