The decision to have surgery should be a cooperative one involving you, your family and your orthopaedic surgeon At Joints & Sports Clinic we help you to arrive at this critical decision in a comprehensive and objective manner
You are likely to need a surgical intervention for your Knee Arthritis if you experience "Severe Knee Pain/Stiffness" that limits your everyday activities, including walking, climbing stairs, and getting in and out of chairs or "Moderate or Severe Knee Pain" while "Resting" during the day or night or if you have a "Knee Deformity (Bowing In/Out)" or if you do not experience relief of symptoms with conservative management.
What is a Total Knee Replacement?
"Total Knee Replacement" is also called as "Total Knee Arthroplasty". It can be more accurately described as "Knee Resurfacing" as only the surface of the lower end of the thigh bone and the upper end of the shin bone along with the knee cap are actually replaced. Your treating surgeon will "Remove the Damaged Cartilage" at the ends of the long bones by "Reshaping" them and "Insert Metal Components" that recreate the surface of the joint using "Bone Cement" or "Press-Fit" into the bone. The under-surface of the kneecap (patella) may or may not be resurfaced. Finally a "Highly Cross-Linked Polyethylene Plastic Spacer"of varying thickness is inserted between the metal components according to the laxity of individual patient to create a smooth gliding surface.
Realistic Expectations
90% of people who have total knee replacement surgery experience a dramatic reduction of knee pain and a significant improvement in the ability to perform common activities. Realistic activities following total knee replacement include "Unlimited Walking, Swimming, Driving, Dancing, Golf, Trekking and other Low-Impact Sports".With appropriate activity modification, knee replacements can last for many years. The success of your surgery will depend largely on how well you follow your orthopaedic surgeon's instructions at home during the first few weeks after surgery, however, undergoing a total knee replacement does not necessarily allow you to achieve more than you could before you developed arthritis. With continued activity following total knee replacement, every implant begins to wear in its plastic spacer. Excessive activity or weight may speed up this normal wear therefore, it is advisable to avoid high-impact activities like running, jogging.
Knee replacement
Knee replacement is a major surgery which involves replacing a worn out or damaged knee with an artificial one. There are two types of knee replacement surgeries.
- Total Knee replacement: The knee joints on both the sides are replaced
- Partial Knee replacement: One side of your knee is replaced depending on the damage or injury.
- Osteotomy: Here, the surgeon cuts the shin bone and realigns it so that the weight does not fall on the damaged part of the knee
- Arthroscopic washout and debridement: An arthroscope or a tiny camera is used for the procedure and later the knee is washed out to clear bits of bone or other debris
- Mosaicplasty: This is a keyhole procedure which repairs the damaged surface of the knee
- Swelling, stiffness and severe pain on your knees reduces your mobility.
- Unable to perform daily chores due to severe pain.
- Feeling depressed due to knee pain and inability to perform daily chores.
- Unable to work or have a social life.
- Gout
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Haemophilia
- Knee injury
- Knee deformity
- Knee Injury
- Unusual bone forms
There are also alternative surgeries rather than a knee replacement but the results of such surgeries won’t be better than a knee replacement. Some of such alternatives are:
What causes you to have a knee replacement?
As knee replacement is a major surgery, the doctor needs to analyse and decide if the surgery is needed or not, whether the surgery can actually help the patient walk better or just to give oral medications until further check-up. You are eligible for a knee replacement surgery if:
How Do I Know If I Need Knee Replacement Surgery?
Knee replacement will be done if some knee conditions cause damage to the knee. Let’s take a look at such conditions.
How long does it take to recover from a knee replacement?
Soon after the surgery, the patient should stay at the hospital for 4-5 days. Recovery period may also vary according to individual and the type of surgery performed. The patient will be provided with frame or crutches for walking in the initial recovery period.
A complete recovery may take up to 2 years including scar, tissue and muscle strength. However, the recovery period varies from people to people.
Can you kneel down with a knee replacement?
Kneeling won't be a problem for a patient who has undergone total knee replacement. Most of the doctors recommend not to kneel or stain their knees so as to provide the prosthetic knee a long life an avoid damages to it. Even though if people try to kneel, some my experience mild pain or discomfort
How much does it cost for knee replacement surgery?
A total knee replacement may cost somewhere around 2 lakhs to 4 lakhs. The cost may vary according to the prosthetics chosen, degree of damage, type of surgery, the health condition of the patient and many other factors.
