Replacement Knee's

[Undrcoverrednek]

Several years ago I had a widowed alcoholic neighbor. His knees got so bad he could no longer walk to the 7-11 to get his booze. His grandson moved in to help him, but ended up selling all the grandpa's stuff for drug money then ended up in jail. Grandpa got him a girlfriend then got a double knee replacement. Did all his therapy, was practically good as new, then kicked out the girlfriend and started walking to 7-11 for his booze again.

I guess the lesson is you might need some help during recovery but you can get back to near new if you do all the therapy.

 

[Smcask100]

I would expect, barring other medical issues or complications that you will make be able to return to full time activities. Many surgeons now do not put post operative restrictions on patients undergoing knee replacement aside from running. Hiking etc is fine. It takes a full year to get to 100% but most people are pretty happy with their recovery 2-3 months post operatively. Rehab is the most difficult part for patients, and knees get stiff so therapy is very important.

Bilateral (both sides at the same time) have fallen out of favor recently as there is a higher complication risk although in certain instances there are some surgeons still willing to do them.

You can find good resources about the procedure and recovery process from:

AAHKS Hip and Knee Care

Articles and videos on hip and knee replacement surgery by surgeon members of AAHKS

hipkneeinfo.org

This website is made by the American association of hip and knee surgeons and will have accurate, up to date, and factual information for you.

 

[Ross]

18 months on my tkr. The first 3 months will suck bad. Now at the stage where strength is coming back to match the other leg. Downhill was the biggest obstacle and range of motion is almost exact to the other leg. There are many types of tkr replacements. My ortho is a long time friend and elk hunter. He made sure I got the best one available for what I like to do. No running and will need to limit pack weight. Other than that just be mindful this is a replacement knee. 61.5 and a few more bulls to shoot with it. Double digit knee surgeries on this leg hopefully my last

 

[huntineveryday]

A PT's perspective:

Knee replacements are a proceedure with great outcomes. Small chance of infection, small chance you won't have the pain relief you are after. The first 3 days sucks. A drop off in pain around 2 weeks. Back to most functional activity by 4-6 weeks, but still aching and maybe swelling some. By 10-12 weeks you should be pretty happy with it. Even better at 6 months. Even better at 1 year. Modern knees last quite a while, but it's like any mechanical part. Keep the strength around it good and limit impact where you can and it will last longer than if you go right back to what you were doing before (that wore out the knee in the first place).

Young active males tend to struggle a little more getting full extension back, so work before surgery to make sure you have good motion before the surgery. Going into surgery with full extension (to even a few degrees of hyperextension) , 130 degrees of flexion, and good quad strength will pay dividends on the rehab side post-op.

Find a surgeon that does a lot of tka's and is good with the techniques they use. Getting them lined up correctly leads to the best outcomes, regardless of whether they use a robot or not. I would lean towards a surgeon that puts an emphasis on rehab. Patients that start 2-3 days out do better than the ones that wait 2 weeks, and good strength post op correlates to good long term outcomes.

There aren't many surgeons in our area that will do a Bilateral operation anymore. They go great, or they are a train wreck, and there isn't an in-between. I've worked with tka's that were 4 weeks apart. That's pushing it and not a great idea for most people. Waiting at least 10-12 weeks between is probably best, less chance of the first one flaring up and getting inflamed when the second is done, and it'll be strong enough to handle the extra workload.

 

[Backyard]

18 months on my tkr. The first 3 months will suck bad. Now at the stage where strength is coming back to match the other leg. Downhill was the biggest obstacle and range of motion is almost exact to the other leg. There are many types of tkr replacements. My ortho is a long time friend and elk hunter. He made sure I got the best one available for what I like to do. No running and will need to limit pack weight. Other than that just be mindful this is a replacement knee. 61.5 and a few more bulls to shoot with it. Double digit knee surgeries on this leg hopefully my last

Which brand/model did you end up with?


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[Luked]

I havent had any yet. But sure I will need them before too long with how I have treated myself over the years.
My wife however has had 3 different sugeries on her knees. One was a partial replacement. that was over a year ago and its still not the best. Hers still hurts and swells quite often.
Her Dr said that Partials are harder to recover from than full replacements, but they would not do a full on hers.
In the last 6 months or so I have had some pain in mine actually on the back side of my knee. Haven't had it checked out yet and probably wont till i absolutely have to.

 

[Ross]

@Backyard My new knee is a Stryker Triathlon cement less.

This new knee process is a whirlwind. You’re excited, but don’t sleep at all for several months and the pain Sucks! Lots of peaks and valleys to get to this stage. You have a new knee, but need to work harder than hard. People often say I worked hard. There are different levels of recovery diligence and I wanted to elk hunt like I have for 40 years. Good luck to whomever goes through it A few photos of my 18 months and other questions feel free to ask, yes I am pleased with the outcome You can see I use it a lot

 

[Backyard]

@Ross thanks. I have the same. And have the same results as far as strength and ROM. Things work out when you put the work in. Im a bit short on the steps tho


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[OrthoNPBeau]

Several things to remember about joint replacement...

It isn't done to ELIMINATE pain. It's done to DECREASE pain

It's not done to give you FULL function. It's done to make you more FUNCTIONAL. Read that again- there is a difference. Notice I didn't say it's done to make your joint like it was when you are 20.

You will have a certain degree of knee weakness afterwards because we have to cut thru the quadriceps to get to your knee. Anticipate a loss of 30% of strength.

For the first 3 months you will regret having it done.

It will take a year to do what we call normalize