Relief offered to Hong Kong osteoarthritis patients at Tai Po hospital after new knee replacement centre opens
Doctors manage to cut waiting time for knee operations at Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital from 56 months to just 15
The waiting time for total knee replacement surgery has been cut from 56 months to just 15 at the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po following the opening of a dedicated joint replacement centre there in October.
Such operations were previously available there, but the new centre provides a specialist service.
It became the fourth such centre in the city, after Buddhist, Yan Chai and Pok Oi hospitals. A fifth joint replacement centre at the Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital opened on July 1.
Chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis is a growing problem among Hong Kong’s ageing population. Total knee replacement is the last resort for serious cases.
The improvement at the Tai Po hospital came about after a cross-departmental team, including orthopaedic specialists and physiotherapists, was set up to handle knee and hip joint replacements.
The team is able to perform 250 operations a year, up from 80 before the centre opened.
