Seven Southern California residents receive free hip and knee replacements at Keck Hospital of USC

LOS ANGELES — Seven Southern California patients will receive free hip and knee replacements at the Keck Hospital of USC through Operation Walk USA 2012, a collaboration of 109 orthopaedic surgeons in 29 states providing free joint replacements to more than 200 people on Dec. 7.

Operation Walk USA, established in 2011, provides all aspects of treatment — surgery, hospitalization, and pre- and post-operative care — at no cost to participating patients, all of whom were chosen based on need and inability to afford joint replacement surgery.

The nonprofit organization drew its inspiration from Operation Walk, a separate nonprofit that has provided free surgical treatment to more than 6,000 patients in developing countries since the mid-1990s. Founded by leading joint replacement surgeon Lawrence D. Dorr, clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, most Operation Walk chapters participate in the Operation Walk USA event.

Dorr said the voluntary participation of so many orthopaedic surgeons and medical staff across the country is a testament to the program’s rewards — for both the patient and health care provider.

“The ultimate service is unconditional giving of knowledge and skills,” Dorr said. “This is why we all chose medicine.”

In the United States, one of every five adults suffers from arthritic disease, the most common cause of disability in the country.

“Degenerative joint disease often makes even the simplest of daily tasks excruciatingly painful or impossible,” said Jay R. Lieberman, chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery of the Keck School of Medicine of USC and orthopaedist-in-chief at the Keck Medical Center of USC. “As an experienced total joint replacement surgeon, I have witnessed the dramatic improvement in quality of life provided by these operations and I am confident that these patients will be able to return to an active lifestyle.”

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, hip and knee replacement surgeries are the most cost-effective and successful of all orthopaedic procedures, eliminating pain and allowing patients to resume active, productive lives. But, while more than 1 million hip and knee replacements are performed in the United States every year, countless men and women continue to live with severe arthritic pain and immobility because they cannot afford joint replacement surgery.

Device manufacturers Biomet, DePuy, MAKO Surgical, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Total Joint Orthopedics (TJO), Inc. and Zimmer donated the hip and knee implants. Ortech Data, Inc. is providing a complimentary data system for OpWalkUSA patients. Ortech will provide this data to the national arthroplasty registry, the American Joint Replacement Registry. 

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ABOUT KECK HOSPITAL OF USC
Keck Hospital of USC (formerly USC University Hospital) is a private, 411-bed acute care hospital staffed by Keck Medical Center of USC physicians, who are also faculty at the renowned Keck School of Medicine of USC. Opened in 1991, this modern facility offers some of the most sophisticated technology available. Among the hospital’s advanced services are neurointerventional radiology, minimally invasive cardiothoracic surgery, robotic surgery and interventional cardiology. Surgical specialties include organ transplantation and neurosurgery, as well as cardiothoracic, bariatric, esophageal, orthopaedic, and plastic and reconstructive surgeries.