Knee Replacement Surgery
The knee joint is the most important joint of the body. Our daily routine activities like walk, sit, squat, turn around, drive or other activities depending on the knee for support and mobility. When your knee is healthy, you may take it for granted, not giving a thought about the job it does for you.
But once knee joint damaged, worn out, painful, stiff and you are forced to restrict activities when need to knee replacement.
Symptoms of knee Replacement:
There are four key warning signs of knee replacement:
- Pain: Pain from knee can be constant, or it may come and go. Pain might be isolated to one place or move in many parts of the body
- Swelling: Swelling in the different joints of the body and enable to perform daily activities.
- Stiffness: Stiffness especially when waking up in the morning or after sitting at a desk or riding in a car for a long time
- Difficulty moving a joint: Moving a joint or getting up from a chair should not be hard or painful.
- Injury: Knee replacement can be caused by a sudden injury, an overuse injury.
Causes of knee replacement surgery:
The main cause to have knee replacement surgery is to ease pain and disability caused by arthritis or other joint problems, while preserving movement. Less commonly, it is used to correct some kinds of knee deformity.The following main causes of knee replacement surgery.
- Osteoarthritis: when the cartilage covering the ends of the bones where they meet to form joints breaks down. This causes the bones of the joint to rub together. These changes lead to pain and stiffness.
- Rheumatoid arthritis: in which the body’s immune system attacks the membrane that lines the joint. This can lead to pain, inflammation and destruction of the joint.
- Post-traumatic arthritis: a form of osteoarthritis that may occur after a knee injury such as a fracture or ligament tear. These kinds of injuries can cause inflammation and affect the alignment of the knee, leading to cartilage damage over time.
- Knee deformities: such as bowed legs or knock knees— occur when the knees are not formed or aligned properly. Over time, this creates stress on the joints that can wear down cartilage and lead to pain and disability. In these cases, knee replacement can restore the normal alignment of the knee and correct disability.
Treatments before the knee replacement surgery
- Exercises:to strengthen the muscles around the knee and improve flexibility
- Stop smoking: for the knee replacement it is good to stop smoking before and after the surgery.
- Walking: walking help to reduce tress on the joint
- Shoe wearing: for the improve the knee’s alignment
- Medicines: help to relieve pain.
About total knee replacement surgery:
Surgeons and manufactures have made remarkable advance in joint replacement technology over the last few years. In the knee replacement the knee joint replace with an artificial one that reduces pain, allow you to strength your legs and improves your quality of life. The materials used in knee replacement are long lasting and durable. As a result the chance for a successful outcome is excellent.
Types of knee replacement:
When your knee doesn’t respond to medications and treatments, knee replacement surgery is an option. There are two types of replacement surgeries: total knee replacement and partial knee replacement.
- TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT (TKR): The traditional method for repairing a damaged knee is a total knee replacement surgery. During a total knee replacement the surgeon removes the surface of your bones that have been damaged by osteoarthritis or other causes and replaces the knee with an artificial implant that is selected to fit your anatomy. A surgeon uses special surgical instruments to cut away the arthritic bone accurately and then shape the healthy bone underneath to fit precisely into the implant components.
- PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENT (PKR): This procedure, sometimes referred to as a uni-compartmental knee replacement, is an option for a small percentage of patients. During a PKR, a surgeon removes the arthritic portion of the knee—including bone and cartilage—and replaces that compartment with metal and plastic components. A PKR surgery offers a few key advantages, including a shorter hospital stay, faster recovery and rehabilitation period, less pain following surgery, and less trauma and blood loss.
- Reduced joint pain: after the joint replacement reduced the joint pain.
- Able for perform routine activities: after the joint replacement perform the routine activities easily.
- Increase leg strength: after the joint replacement increase the legs strength with exercise.
- Improve the quality of life: ability to return to normal activities and pastimes.
- Correction of deformity: after the joint replacement correction of deformity of knee.
Benefits of knee joint replacement:
The following benefits of the knee replacement surgery:
Risks of knee joint replacement surgery:
As with any major surgery there are potential risks involved. The decision to proceed with the surgery is made because the advantages of surgery outweigh the potential disadvantages it is important that you are informed of these risks before the surgery takes place.
- Infection: Infection can occur with any operation. In the knee this can be superficial or deep. Infection rates vary. If it occurs, it can be treated with antibiotics but may require further surgery.
- Blood clots: These can form in the calf muscles and can travel to the lung. These can occasionally be serious and even life threatening. If you get calf pain or shortness of breath at any stage, you should notify your doctor.
- Pneumonia: pneumonia can be developed in patients who are lying in bed right after operation.
- Stiffness in the Knee: Ideally your knee should bend beyond 100 degrees but on occasion, the knee may not bend as well as expected. Sometimes manipulations are required. This means going to the operating room where the knee is bent for you and under anesthetic.
- Wear: The plastic liner eventually wears out over time, usually 15 to 25 years and may need to be changed.
- Leg length inequality: This is also due to the fact that a corrected knee is more straight and is unavoidable.
- Cosmetic Appearance: The knee may look different than it was because it is put into the correct alignment to allow proper function.
- Ligament injuries: There are a number of ligaments surrounding the knee. These ligaments can be torn during surgery or break or stretch out any time afterwards.
- Damage to Nerves and Blood Vessels: Rarely these can be damaged at the time of surgery. If recognized they are repaired, but a second operation may be required. Nerve damage can cause a loss of feeling or movement below the knee and can be permanent.
- Patella problems: Patella can dislocate. This means it moves out of place and it can break or loosen.
My aunt has really struggled getting around because her knees hurt so badly. She has to use a cane to try to support some of her weight. I had no idea that a knee replacement surgery can actually correct a deformation of the knee. I’ll let her know!
I didn’t realize that it was possible to do a partial knee replacement by removing only a portion of the knee and replacing it with metal parts. This seems like it would be a good idea for someone who is having knee problems because you wouldn’t have to get the whole thing replaced. That would probably mean a faster recovery time and less problems later on because of the knee.