SURGERY

Any resident of the British Columbia interior that has needed elective orthopedic surgery is aware of the excessively long waiting list. The orthopedic surgeons are limited in the amount of time they can utilize the surgical suites at PGRH.

Victims of trauma must be treated with priority. As a general rule painful joints that are in need of orthopedic surgery are considered elective cases because there is no real emergency involved. The waiting list for elective orthopedic surgery is long. There are lots of knees and hips and feet on the waiting list.

Fortunately much of the forefoot surgery that needs to be done can be performed by Dr. Bell in a surgical suite located in his office. Most forefoot surgery can be performed there. Each case is evaluated individually. There are advantages to this approach.

The wait is not long.

The incidence of post-operative infections or other complications is extremely low. The patient can schedule the procedure at his or her convenience. This allows time for the patient to make the necessary arrangements for the post-operative convalescence period. This makes things easier at work and at home.

Anyone who has had elective surgery at a hospital knows that feeling. A stranger in a strange land. The attire is embarrassing, The surroundings are cold and unfamiliar, There is not a familiar face to be found, the pace seems hectic. As a patient you feel as though you are the wrench in what would otherwise be a well oiled machine.

Surgery in our office is much less stressful. The patient is dressed in his or her own clothing. There are no unfamiliar faces. The patient remains fully awake during surgery because all of our surgical procedures are performed under local anesthesia.

When we schedule a patient for major surgery there are no other patients scheduled for that day. We have no one else to attend to so our surgical patient gets all of our attention.