What Is Joint Replacement Surgery?
Joint replacement surgery is when someone undergoes surgery to reshape, reconstruct, or replace a diseased or damaged joint. When most people think about joint replacement surgery, they think about individuals having a knee or hip replaced. Usually, this is due to old age or previous injury and helps these people to get along better. However, there are also instances of more critical joint replacement surgeries in order to prevent further damage. These surgeries can be necessary for younger individuals—even children—and are performed by orthopedic surgeons or pediatric orthopedic surgeons depending on the patient’s age.
Some of the main causes and reasons for joint replacement surgery include:
- Pain or arthritis in a particular joint
- Fractures or injuries
- Joint degeneration
- Having difficulty with mobility
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)
For children suffering from JIA, they can have difficulty doing normal tasks every day. Some have extreme difficulty walking or can’t walk at all. This is due to severe pain, stiffness, and joint damage caused by JIA. JIA can affect all the joints in a child’s body, including the knees, hips, elbows, wrists, shoulders, and more. If children with extreme cases of JIA don’t get the help they need, they may struggle to perform daily tasks for the rest of their lives, and potentially even be unable to live without assistance.
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) continues to provide humanitarian aid to children and their families through our hospitals, pediatric medical programs, health initiatives, hospital infrastructure projects, orphan and refugee sponsorships, and medical missions. These efforts help to ensure that children in need get the vital assistance they require.
In 2014, the PCRF set up the Pediatric Orthopedic And Educational Training (POET) Program at the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah to train local surgeons in pediatric orthopedic surgery through visiting specialists and training abroad, and to offer medical equipment and the treatment of complex patients. The goal of the POET program is to build up local capacity in Palestine so children with orthopedic deformities can be treated adequately by highly skilled local surgeons and to reduce the referral of patients abroad or out of the public system.
PCRF is not a political or religious organization. Our mission is to provide medical and humanitarian relief collectively and individually to Arab children throughout the Middle East, regardless of their nationality, politics, or religion. We rely on charitable giving to provide medical treatment, surgeries, safety, shelter, and support to children and their families in Palestine and the Levant. Find out how you can get involved and help make a difference in children’s lives today!