The Joint Replacement Podcast

Matthew Sloan, MD
  • 5.0 (28)
  • Medicine
  • Updated Weekly

Hosted by orthopedic surgeon Matthew Sloan, MD, Director of Robotics in Orthopedic Surgery at Emerson Health in Concord, Massachusetts, this podcast helps patients understand hip and knee replacement surgery. Dr. Sloan interviews leading joint replacement surgeons about robotic surgery, implant technology, recovery, and how to choose the right surgeon. Clear, expert guidance for anyone considering joint replacement or looking to stay active and pain-free.

  1. 1h ago

    #56 - What Does a Professional Violinist Know About Orthopedic Surgery? Will Kang, MD

    Dr. Will Kang took an unusual path to orthopedic surgery. Before becoming a physician, he was a classically trained violinist who earned a master’s degree in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and worked professionally as a musician. After years of intense practice and a repetitive-stress shoulder injury, he changed direction and ultimately became an orthopedic surgeon. In this episode, Dr. Matthew Sloan talks with Dr. Kang about the similarities between elite musicians and athletes, repetitive-stress injuries in musicians, and what his experience as a patient taught him about treating musculoskeletal pain. They then tackle some of the most common questions patients have about orthopedic care: When does an injury need evaluation? When do you actually need an MRI? Does every meniscus, labral, or rotator cuff “tear” need to be fixed? Which orthopedic operations may be performed too often? And when does surgery actually offer an advantage over nonsurgical treatment? They also discuss cortisone, PRP, gel injections, regenerative medicine, exercise and joint health, and why significant arthritis on an X-ray doesn't necessarily mean you need a joint replacement. The episode ends with three important questions every patient should ask an orthopedic surgeon before agreeing to surgery.

    #56 - What Does a Professional Violinist Know About Orthopedic Surgery? Will Kang, MD

  2. 2d ago

    #55 - How Do You Know When It’s Really Time for Joint Replacement? Randall Schultz, MD

    How do you know when it’s really time for a hip or knee replacement? Dr. Matthew Sloan is joined by Dr. Randall Schultz, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at Texas Orthopedics and creator of The Surgeon Unmasked. After more than three decades in orthopedic surgery and thousands of joint replacements, Dr. Schultz brings an especially unusual perspective to the conversation: he has also undergone a knee replacement himself. Dr. Schultz shares what becoming a patient taught him about recovery, pain, expectations, and how difficult it can be to decide when surgery is finally necessary. He describes realizing that his own “world was shrinking” as arthritis gradually forced him to give up activities he valued. They discuss: • How to know when hip or knee arthritis is severe enough for surgery• Whether you really need to be “bone on bone”• Whether patients can wait too long for joint replacement• Exercise, weight loss, cortisone, gel injections, PRP, and other nonsurgical options• Partial versus total knee replacement• How to choose a hip or knee replacement surgeon• Whether surgeon volume matters• Robotics versus computer navigation versus manual knee replacement• Whether implant brands actually matter• Anterior versus posterior hip replacement• Subvastus and “minimally invasive” knee replacement approaches• What knee replacement recovery actually feels like• The role of the “quiet knee” approach after surgery• Opioid-free joint replacement and realistic pain expectations• What patients should understand before choosing surgery Dr. Schultz also challenges some of the marketing surrounding modern joint replacement, arguing that technology and branded surgical approaches should not distract from the fundamentals: choosing the right patient, performing the operation well, and setting realistic expectations. For patients considering hip or knee replacement, this episode offers the perspective of someone who has spent his career performing these operations — and has experienced knee replacement from the other side of the operating table. Find Dr. Randall Schultz on YouTube at The Surgeon Unmasked and at TheSurgeonUnmasked.com. Subscribe to The Joint Replacement Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

    #55 - How Do You Know When It’s Really Time for Joint Replacement? Randall Schultz, MD

  3. Sep 29

    #54 - Can You Prevent Arthritis & Joint Replacement? Jocelyn Wittstein, MD

    What happens to a joint decades before someone needs a replacement—and can we change that trajectory? Duke orthopedic sports medicine surgeon Dr. Jocelyn Wittstein joins Dr. Matthew Sloan to discuss ACL injuries, post-traumatic arthritis, menopause, osteoporosis, cartilage health, and strategies for maintaining healthy bones and joints throughout life. They discuss why ACL reconstruction does not eliminate the risk of arthritis, the importance of the meniscus, whether running causes arthritis, how menopause affects cartilage and joint inflammation, when women should consider bone-density testing, and how resistance training, nutrition, and activity modification may help preserve musculoskeletal health. They also explore treatment options for mild to moderate arthritis, including anti-inflammatory medications, PRP, viscosupplementation, supplements, and how patients can decide which activities are still worth doing when a joint becomes symptomatic. A fascinating conversation about what happens long before joint replacement—and the rapidly evolving science of preventing or slowing the path toward it.

    #54 - Can You Prevent Arthritis & Joint Replacement? Jocelyn Wittstein, MD

  4. Sep 25

    #53 - Are Robotics the Future of Joint Replacement? Prof. Fares Haddad

    Professor Fares Haddad joins The Joint Replacement Podcast to discuss how technology, robotics, and increasingly personalized surgical planning are changing hip and knee replacement. We explore his career across arthroplasty, complex revision surgery, elite sports, research, and editorial leadership, and how his surgical philosophy has evolved toward three-dimensional planning, cruciate preservation, partial knee replacement, and functional alignment. The centerpiece of the conversation is his recent randomized study of robotic-assisted versus conventional medial partial knee replacement. We discuss why partial knees may be particularly suited to robotics, improved implant positioning, differences in Forgotten Joint Score, criticisms of implant-to-implant comparisons, and whether increased precision is worth the added cost. We also discuss the RACER trial, mechanical versus functional alignment, why precision alone may not improve outcomes if surgeons are aiming at the wrong target, and how predictive analytics could eventually help determine patient-specific implant positioning. Finally, Professor Haddad shares his perspective as Editor-in-Chief of The Bone & Joint Journal on evaluating new evidence, answers whether robotic joint replacement is truly “better,” explains who may be a candidate for partial knee replacement, and describes why robotics may ultimately prove most valuable in complex hip and revision surgery.

  5. Sep 25

    #52 - Am I Too Young for Joint Replacement?

    “You’re too young for a joint replacement. Come back when you’re 60.” Is that still good advice? In this episode, Dr. Matthew Sloan breaks down how surgeons approach hip and knee replacement in younger patients and why chronological age is only one part of the decision. We discuss why joint replacement was historically delayed in younger patients, how modern implant materials have changed expectations for longevity, and why a patient who has surgery at 40 still needs an honest conversation about lifetime revision risk. We also explore the other side of the equation: what can happen when someone with severe arthritis spends years waiting. Loss of muscle, reduced activity, weight gain, poor sleep, inability to work or exercise, and progressive loss of quality of life all matter when deciding when surgery is appropriate. Dr. Sloan also reviews conditions frequently seen in younger patients, including hip dysplasia, femoroacetabular impingement, avascular necrosis, previous ACL or meniscus injuries, fractures, and post-traumatic arthritis. Finally, we discuss activity after joint replacement, revision surgery, and the key question younger patients should ask when they are told to wait: “What exactly are we waiting for?” The right time for joint replacement is not determined by a birthday. It is a balance between the severity of the disease, its effect on your life, the alternatives that remain, and the expected risks and benefits of surgery.

  6. Sep 23

    #51 - Is Medical Clearance Before Joint Replacement Necessary? Tyler Thurman, DO

    What does it really mean when your surgeon says you need “medical clearance” before a hip or knee replacement? Hospitalist and internal medicine physician Tyler Thurman, DO (@hospitaldoctort), joins The Joint Replacement Podcast to explain why physicians often prefer the term risk stratification—and what they are actually looking for before a patient goes to the operating room. We discuss cardiac risk, EKG abnormalities, blood pressure, diabetes, sodium, anemia, kidney disease, hip fracture timing, preoperative testing, and which medical problems truly justify delaying surgery. We also tackle the sometimes very different ways orthopedic surgeons and internal medicine physicians think about patients. Then things get less serious. Tyler and I go through a rapid-fire orthopedic surgery vs medicine lightning round: Why do hospitalists care so much about sodium? Which lab value do orthopedic surgeons understand the least? Who is more dangerous—an orthopedic surgeon reading an EKG or an internist reading a postoperative X-ray? And what do hospitalists actually think about all those orthopedic medical-management consults? A practical—and occasionally sarcastic—look at what really happens medically before and after joint replacement surgery.

  7. Sep 22

    #50 - Season One Finale — What We Learned About Joint Replacement

    Fifty episodes. One season. A lot of questions about how we can make joint replacement better. In this special Season One finale, Dr. Matthew Sloan looks back at the conversations, debates, patient stories, and ideas that shaped the first 49 episodes of The Joint Replacement Podcast. Hear memorable moments about deciding when it is time for joint replacement, same-day surgery, recovery after knee replacement, modern implant longevity, the surgeon becoming the patient, the RACER Knee Trial, robotic precision and alignment, complex revision surgery, periprosthetic joint infection, OR teamwork, surgical training, and the changing economics of orthopedic care. The episode closes with the lessons Matthew has taken from the first season and an invitation for listeners to help shape what comes next. Thank you to every guest, patient, surgeon, trainee, nurse, PA, surgical technologist, therapist, researcher, engineer, industry partner, listener, and viewer who helped build this community. What do you want to see in Season Two? Send us your guest suggestions, controversial topics, new technologies, research questions, patient stories, or anything else you think deserves a deeper conversation. We’re just getting started.

  8. Sep 17

    #49 - How do you build an academic career? Andrew Schneider, MD

    Dr. Andrew Schneider joins The Joint Replacement Podcast to discuss what it is really like to build a career as a young academic arthroplasty surgeon. We talk about why he chose academics, transitioning from fellowship to attending life, building a referral base, balancing clinical volume with research and teaching, working with residents and fellows as a young attending, finding mentors, developing meaningful industry collaborations, and deciding which opportunities are actually worth pursuing early in a surgical career. Dr. Schneider also shares his clinical philosophy on robotic-assisted joint replacement, why he combines robotics with kinematic alignment in total knee replacement, how he thinks about accuracy and precision in the current robotics debate, and why he believes partial knee replacement remains underutilized in appropriately selected patients. We finish with anterior versus posterior hip replacement, the future of robotic surgery, artificial intelligence, big data, and a potential future where personalized surgical planning is informed by the outcomes of thousands of patients with similar anatomy and clinical characteristics. An especially valuable conversation for orthopedic residents, adult reconstruction fellows, junior faculty, and surgeons interested in robotics and the future of arthroplasty.

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Hosted by orthopedic surgeon Matthew Sloan, MD, Director of Robotics in Orthopedic Surgery at Emerson Health in Concord, Massachusetts, this podcast helps patients understand hip and knee replacement surgery. Dr. Sloan interviews leading joint replacement surgeons about robotic surgery, implant technology, recovery, and how to choose the right surgeon. Clear, expert guidance for anyone considering joint replacement or looking to stay active and pain-free.

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