This book is based primarily on the personal experiences
of the author, who underwent two knee replacements and one hip replacement
in a one-year period of time. Silber discusses what he did when his
arthritis first became symptomatic and describes some of the useful
(and not-so-useful) therapies that he tried before deciding that
total joint surgery was the best option. He describes how he found
his surgeon, the questions that he had about the procedure, and
his rehabilitation.
In order to supplement the knowledge gained from his own experiences,
Silber discussed total joint surgery with many people on the Internet.
He also used preoperative manuals for knee and hip-replacement patients
from The Hospital for Special Surgery, sat in on a preoperative
class for hip-replacement patients at Kaiser Permanente-Oakland,
and reviewed patient-education materials from the University of
Iowa.
This book, which includes a foreword by Silber's orthopaedic
surgeon, provides much useful information for a person contemplating
total hip or total knee surgery. Some of the personal information
is unnecessary, but it makes the book more readable.
The foreword includes a description of an in-office diagnostic
arthroscopy procedure performed preoperatively with the patient
under local anesthesia. This is not done in most centers, nor, in
my opinion, should it be. The information in the foreword could
mislead patients if their physician disagrees with that approach.