Has any knee replacement not gone well?

[Jenny]

I have friends who, between them, got three out of four knees replace about three summers ago now. Their experiences were very much as @rcc55125 mentioned above. Both had the surgery done by the same doc, who uses a minimally invasive technique, which doesn’t cut through nearly as much stuff as traditional, and both are extremely happy with the results.

 

[Big J]

You might try asking your question on www.dcski.com
Perhaps someone on there would know of some TKR docs in the Northern VA area? Also, that website is a good resource for info on mid-Atlantic skiing for your future reference.

Thanks

 

[Big J]

I am now 3 months post TKR. My experience is the entire process is much less painful and troublesome than many others in the past has experienced. Perhaps it was just me, although my wife went through the same 2 month prior to me, but modern techniques have advanced. I do not think my surgery was robotic, never asked. I did do leg strengthening and lost weight prior to my surgery. Weight is not your friend. I now walk without limping, play golf, live without pain, and, for the most part do not know my knee was replaced. That is not to say that it was easy, just a lot more manageable than we expected. First few days, after the initial nerve block wears off, are intense. Bending the knee joint takes time and therapy, I was always ahead of the curve per my PT. It takes a while to get past 90 degrees, but, when the breakthrough occurs, get to 120 degrees is almost easy. It was a month before I could sleep at night in comfort. If the virus situation permits, I will ski for the first time in 3 years next season with no fears. I'd go through the process on my other knee, although, it is much less problematic, so no present need.

My best advice is to research the surgeon who will do your replacement. My guy is a member of the largest orthopedic practice in the Phila region. My surgery was done at a hospital 60 miles away from Phila., done near where I now live, so, you do not need to go to a big city location. My wife and I asked around our community, checked internet references and the same name kept popping up. He only does knee and hip surgery, typically 6 or more procedures a day. In physical therapy following, my therapist stated he only had good experience with the patients from my surgeon. From day 1, in pre-surgury discussions, he just looked us in the eye and gave us all the time we needed to ask questions. Do not just go to a "name" big practice and get the next name up.

BTW, get follow-up therapy near where you live, no need to return to surgical location. I had 2 follow-ups, 2 weeks and 6 weeks. never saw the surgeon, his work is done in the operating room.

My surgeon is a skier, his biggest concern about returning is to ski where there are fewer other skiers as getting the knee hit by another skier is not something anyone needs to experience.

Good luck, TKR is not as big deal it was in the past.

Thank you so much for all of this very helpful information.

 

[Big J]

I just had TKR of my left knee on June 2. It was done at an orthopedic speciality clinic (Tria Orthopedic) by a surgeon not robotic. As at @Living Proof said modern techniques have changed a lot even from a few years ago. My surgery was done as an outpatient procedure! That's right, I entered the surgery center at 7:30 AM and was home by 1:30 PM! I'm fortunate that this facility is only 20 minutes from my home. Also, I have no medical complications so as long as I came out of recovery well I was able to go home. Should I have needed post-op nursing care for a day I would have gone to a Hotel next door where they have rooms reserved with 24 hour nursing care. However, since I was a healthy, low risk patient, the out patient procedure was a fantastic option. My surgeon, specializes in only knees and hips, does the same procedures in a hospital (Park Nicollet) setting maybe 3 days a week and the speciality clinic 2 days a week.
I came home with a Game Ready cold therapy machine which I have been using almost continuously. I was walking around my home with a walker the day after surgery. I had a PT session, prior to surgery, to practice exercises for post surgery and prior to my first post surgery PT session. I've been doing those several times a day. Yesterday I walked outdoors 0.24 mile with only a cane. The pain is not severe and controlled with gabapentin, meloxicam and Tylenol. I was also prescribed oxycodone but am staying away from it.
@Big J, as long as your heathy, with no underlying health conditions, you may want to look into an orthopedic speciality clinic that do these new out patient procedures. I'm super happy with the outcome.

Thanks. I will look into this.

 

[Big J]

Some thoughts for those who probably need TKR and just keep waiting until you really need it. My knee surgery was a little more on the proactive side as the pain level on a daily basis was minimal, the only thing I could not do was ski. My last skiing was the Aspen Gathering I was in pain on every turn. The knee was becoming unstable, my doc said about 5% his patients had this condition, which was related to arthritis on the outside, non-primary weight bearing part of the knee.

My wife surgery is much more on the reactive side. She has known for at least 2 years she needed both replaced. Her doctors always told her she was bone-on-bone in both knees. There was always a reason why she could not do it. She tried cortisone and gel shots, worked for a little while then pain returned. All of a sudden, she could only walk short distances and was in constant pain. She is very glad the first one is now done, and, looks forward to the second one, hopefully this fall. Her life is better now, and, she regrets not doing it sooner.

I know there are many factors that enter into an individuals decision to get TKR. Certainly, age is a major factor, we are aged enough not to be concerned with a future replacement. I've many friends who live with knee pain but not willing to do it. If you limp, you stress your other joints and spine. Taking pain meds has adverse effects. Having it done during good health years is important, aging is not your friend. The recovery is not the horror story many had told me about. While I am not advocating getting it done just-in-case, your aging knees will not remain as-is and will only get worse.

End of rant!

Bone on bone both knees. Thanks for the "rant". Jerry

 

[Big J]

You might try asking your question on www.dcski.com
Perhaps someone on there would know of some TKR docs in the Northern VA area? Also, that website is a good resource for info on mid-Atlantic skiing for your future reference.

Just registered for an account. Takes a few days for approval.

 

[Big J]

You have a lot of choices in that area. Some people favor Charlottesville, though I don't know what's special about it. You also have the Medical College in Richmond.

I have friends and family in Fredericksburg and Richmond. If you want recommendations -- surgeon? hospital? physical therapy? -- I can throw out the question and see what people say.

Please do. Thanks, Jerry

 

[SBrown]

Some thoughts for those who probably need TKR and just keep waiting until you really need it. My knee surgery was a little more on the proactive side as the pain level on a daily basis was minimal, the only thing I could not do was ski. My last skiing was the Aspen Gathering I was in pain on every turn. The knee was becoming unstable, my doc said about 5% his patients had this condition, which was related to arthritis on the outside, non-primary weight bearing part of the knee.

My wife surgery is much more on the reactive side. She has known for at least 2 years she needed both replaced. Her doctors always told her she was bone-on-bone in both knees. There was always a reason why she could not do it. She tried cortisone and gel shots, worked for a little while then pain returned. All of a sudden, she could only walk short distances and was in constant pain. She is very glad the first one is now done, and, looks forward to the second one, hopefully this fall. Her life is better now, and, she regrets not doing it sooner.

I know there are many factors that enter into an individuals decision to get TKR. Certainly, age is a major factor, we are aged enough not to be concerned with a future replacement. I've many friends who live with knee pain but not willing to do it. If you limp, you stress your other joints and spine. Taking pain meds has adverse effects. Having it done during good health years is important, aging is not your friend. The recovery is not the horror story many had told me about. While I am not advocating getting it done just-in-case, your aging knees will not remain as-is and will only get worse.

End of rant!

This is really quite similar to my situation ... I mean the proactive version. I have decided to forge ahead, as well. Will report back!

As to the question of choosing a surgeon, I am lucky to be near Steadman Hawkins, so that part was easier. PA told me that the doctor (I still haven't even met him) does 900 a year. I figure that's pretty good practice. I didn't really believe the math until I learned that the procedure takes only 45 min. Mind blowing.

 

[Big J]

This is really quite similar to my situation ... I mean the proactive version. I have decided to forge ahead, as well. Will report back!

As to the question of choosing a surgeon, I am lucky to be near Steadman Hawkins, so that part was easier. PA told me that the doctor (I still haven't even met him) does 900 a year. I figure that's pretty good practice. I didn't really believe the math until I learned that the procedure takes only 45 min. Mind blowing.

Very informative.

 

[Living Proof]

Yesterday I walked outdoors 0.24 mile with only a cane. The pain is not severe and controlled with gabapentin, meloxicam and Tylenol. I was also prescribed oxycodone but am staying away from it.

Your experiences are very much like my own, glad to hear. If I was 10 years younger, I would have been discharged the same day. It is amazing walking within 4 hours of surgery, but, the surgical pain block is still active. third day was the worst, each day got better.

During my post re-hab, I was very conscious of not limping and using a cane changes your walking gate, it also stressed my hip muscles. I used the walker for weeks as a training device to regain normal heel to toe walking. It's funny, but, we do not think about how to walk until we can't. I walked unaided into my 2 week surgical check-up with a very slight limp, I credit that to training with the walker, which I continued to train with. Never liked walking with a cane.

I was also able to give up Oxytocin after 4 days and asked for a non-addictive pain reliever. My doctor gave me Celecobix which is a NSAID pain reliever that I used for about a month with no side effects. Now drug free.

 

[SBrown]

The hips are the worst! lol

I am 4 wk out as of yesterday, things have gone quite smoothly. I have full extension, and lots of flexion although it's still being hampered by stitches and a little swelling (hasn't been measured recently but it's well past 90.) Hip pain is the most annoying.

I did learn that the implant lengthens the leg a little bit, which sucks because that is already my long leg. Which was part of the hip and limping issue, until I figured it out last weekend and started walking around with the orthotic removed from my left shoe. It evened me out and enabled me to "reset" my gait, and that has been better. But I am still rather bummed about the length thing and wish I had known before the surgery. Don't know if they could have done anything about it or not, just wasn't on the things I thought to ask about.

 

[Jenny]

The hips are the worst! lol

I am 4 wk out as of yesterday, things have gone quite smoothly. I have full extension, and lots of flexion although it's still being hampered by stitches and a little swelling (hasn't been measured recently but it's well past 90.) Hip pain is the most annoying.

I did learn that the implant lengthens the leg a little bit, which sucks because that is already my long leg. Which was part of the hip and limping issue, until I figured it out last weekend and started walking around with the orthotic removed from my left shoe. It evened me out and enabled me to "reset" my gait, and that has been better. But I am still rather bummed about the length thing and wish I had known before the surgery. Don't know if they could have done anything about it or not, just wasn't on the things I thought to ask about.

My super short friend who had both knees replaced a couple of years ago was hoping that her short leg could be lengthened to match her other leg, but no such luck. She's still super short, and still has one leg shorter than the other.

Her husband had one knee replaced that same summer and that leg is now much straighter than his other one.

 

[SBrown]

My super short friend who had both knees replaced a couple of years ago was hoping that her short leg could be lengthened to match her other leg, but no such luck. She's still super short, and still has one leg shorter than the other.

Her husband had one knee replaced that same summer and that leg is now much straighter than his other one.

Maybe I'll be 6 ft tall after both are done!

It does make the ski boot fitting thing a little interesting. I gave up dealing with it a few seasons ago, especially because I have boots with tech fittings in the toe. I'll see how it goes this year, maybe start shimming the right binding on my skinnier skis.

 

[Jenny]

Maybe I'll be 6 ft tall after both are done!

It does make the ski boot fitting thing a little interesting. I gave up dealing with it a few seasons ago, especially because I have boots with tech fittings in the toe. I'll see how it goes this year, maybe start shimming the right binding on my skinnier skis.

And with a longer inseam, just to make shopping for pants even more fun!

 

[Coach13]

You’re about 90 minutes from Leesburg. Check into Mike Kavanagh for your surgery. He’s one of the best anywhere!

 

[Wilhelmson]

An older person i know had both done in one shot. She exercised on the stationary bike religiously and it worked out well. A person i know well who did not follow pt had a less positive outcome.

 

[Henry]

I worked with a guy who had both knees replaced at the same surgery. He said that both were so bad (don't ask me why he waited so long) that if one was fixed he still couldn't walk on the other. Both turned out well. (His wonderful, really dedicated, wife made sure he did every minute of his PT.)

I have a schedule for my knee. It's interesting to know that it isn't really replacing the knee, it is resurfacing. Kind'a like recapping an old tire. The orthopod, Dr. Hackenslash, uses the Navio robot to guide where he cuts away the bone to fit the implants.
https://naviosites.com/navio-total-knee-replacement-surgery.php
"The NAVIO system eliminates the need for CT scans (and the resultant radiation) by using an advanced computer program to collect anatomic and alignment information about your knee. Once captured, this information is used to build a precise, computer-rendered 3D model of your knee that your surgeon will use to plan your surgery.

"Another method that can be used to determine the anatomic alignment of your new implants uses long, metal devices called intramedullary (IM) rods that are drilled into the central canal of the bone to show the alignment of the knee in relation to the hip. These rods are then used to attach the cutting guides necessary to guide the surgeon's saw blade as it shapes the bones to accept the new implants.

"Because the NAVIO system has already gathered the anatomic alignment information about your knee, it eliminates the need for IM rods. Instead, your surgeon will use the system's handheld robotics-assisted tool (the NAVIO handpiece) to accurately position the NAVIO-specific cut guides which are held in place with a few small pins instead of the IM rod. This process leaves the central canal of your bone untouched. Implant alignment is a crucial factor in determining how long the implant will last."


My sawbones has the IM alignment system mentioned above ready as standby. The other knee guy in this small hospital uses only the IM rods.

 

[Big J]

I worked with a guy who had both knees replaced at the same surgery. He said that both were so bad (don't ask me why he waited so long) that if one was fixed he still couldn't walk on the other. Both turned out well. (His wonderful, really dedicated, wife made sure he did every minute of his PT.)

I have a schedule for my knee. It's interesting to know that it isn't really replacing the knee, it is resurfacing. Kind'a like recapping an old tire. The orthopod, Dr. Hackenslash, uses the Navio robot to guide where he cuts away the bone to fit the implants.
https://naviosites.com/navio-total-knee-replacement-surgery.php
"The NAVIO system eliminates the need for CT scans (and the resultant radiation) by using an advanced computer program to collect anatomic and alignment information about your knee. Once captured, this information is used to build a precise, computer-rendered 3D model of your knee that your surgeon will use to plan your surgery.

"Another method that can be used to determine the anatomic alignment of your new implants uses long, metal devices called intramedullary (IM) rods that are drilled into the central canal of the bone to show the alignment of the knee in relation to the hip. These rods are then used to attach the cutting guides necessary to guide the surgeon's saw blade as it shapes the bones to accept the new implants.

"Because the NAVIO system has already gathered the anatomic alignment information about your knee, it eliminates the need for IM rods. Instead, your surgeon will use the system's handheld robotics-assisted tool (the NAVIO handpiece) to accurately position the NAVIO-specific cut guides which are held in place with a few small pins instead of the IM rod. This process leaves the central canal of your bone untouched. Implant alignment is a crucial factor in determining how long the implant will last."


My sawbones has the IM alignment system mentioned above ready as standby. The other knee guy in this small hospital uses only the IM rods.

Thanks for this great information. I will research it well. Jerry

 

[Coach13]

My neighbor just had hers done by Anderson Orthopaedics in Mt. Vernon,VA. She doing great at the 1 month mark.

 

[Big J]

My neighbor just had hers done by Anderson Orthopaedics in Mt. Vernon,VA. She doing great at the 1 month mark.

I just read the Yelp reviews for Anderson Orthopaedics in Mt. Vernon,VA. Not too favorable.