Knee Replacement Surgery: Types, Benefits & Recovery

Knee pain and immobility negatively impact the quality of one’s life. Severe knee pain may limit the ability to perform routine daily activities. Sometimes conservative treatment like medications and physiotherapy approaches fail to relieve long-term knee pain and in such cases, specialists may recommend knee replacement surgery. It is also called knee arthroplasty, or knee resurfacing. Arthroplasty means “the surgical repair of a joint. The surgery relieves chronic knee pain and may improve joint function. The diseased or damaged part of the knee joint is replaced with artificial implants. The goal of knee replacement is to restore knee stability and mobility.

The ideal candidates for knee replacement surgery are osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, trauma, and other knee-related conditions.

Arthritis: Types, Causes, Bone Changes

Types	Causes	Bone or joint changes	Why knee replacement?
Osteoarthritis	Age-related	wear and tear of the knee joint.	Young age.
Rheumatoid arthritis	Inflammatory	cartilage wears down and the bones rub together	Cartilage damage. Pain and stiffness.
Post-traumatic arthritis	Knee injury	Bone fracture, ligament tear	knee cartilage affected

Consequences of Delaying Knee Replacement

• Severe knee pain and stiffness.

• Inability to carry out daily activities.

• The patient cannot walk, climb stairs, etc

• Pain while sleeping

• Pain while resting

• Medicines don't work anymore

• Knee deformity

• Stress and anxiety.

Knee replacement can be total or partial. In Total knee replacement (TKR), knee joints of both sides are replaced. In Partial knee replacement, only one side of the knee joint is replaced

Before the surgical procedure, the orthopedic surgeon takes thorough medical history including a history of previous medicines, duration of knee pain, history of trauma, etc. This is followed by physical examination, diagnostic tests, and surgical planning.

In surgical planning, anesthesia is given and the incision is made to expose the damaged joint. The diseased part of the joint is then removed and implanted is placed followed by a suture. Robotic knee replacement is superior and a minimally-invasive procedure.

After surgery comes the Rehabilitation phase considered to be the most crucial for successful recovery.

Regarding activities, it is advisable to gradually increase activity levels based on the surgeon's guidelines.

Every surgical procedure has risk associated and the same is applicable to knee replacement surgery also. Some of the complications are the risk of infections, formation of blood clots, and pain but these are manageable.

Post-operative care is important to receive successful treatment outcomes.

Data Considerations

Some of the key points of the 2021 AJRR Annual Report are:

• This report highlighted 2,244,587 primary and revision hip and knee arthroplasties between 2012 and 2020.

• The majority of the surgeries were primary TKA constituting 54.5% and primary THA constituting 38.6%.

• Female patients represented 58.5% while male patients represented 38.6% of all cases.

• The average age for THA was 66.1 years whereas for TKA patients was 67 years.

• The mean 2020 procedure count for AJRR surgeons conducting elective primary THA and TKA was 26.7 and 33.9, respectively.

• 600,000 knee replacement surgeries are performed in the United States yearly in the age group 50-80 years.

• More than 90 percent of patients experience a dramatic improvement in pain levels and mobility.

• With proper follow-ups and post-operative care, knee replacement functions well. In 90 % of cases, a replacement knee functions well after 15 years.

• With proper care, 80 to 85 % of knee replacements last for 20 years.

Recovery After Knee Replacement

The hospital stay is 4-5 days. Initially, there will be pain and walking aid may be required. Physiotherapy sessions are scheduled to strengthen the knee and reduce the risk of future complications.

Some of the important points of recovery are:

• It takes nearly 3-4 months to recover completely.

• Patients can drive after 5-6 weeks of knee replacement surgery.

• Patients can resume normal work after 6-8 weeks.

• It is important to attend all physiotherapy sessions.

• Multivitamins may be prescribed by the doctor.

• To avoid lifting heavy weights.

• To take medications on time.

• To avoid standing for long periods.

• To do knee-friendly exercises.

• While sitting, keep your legs raised.

• Take care of the wound. Contact your service provider immediately if you see signs of wound infection.

It is completely normal to experience slight discomfort after knee replacement surgery. One must be cautious about strenuous activities, moderate to high impact like walking, swimming, and biking.

Knee replacement is a completely safe procedure and is opted by many patients to improve the quality of their life.

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