Knee Replacement Surgery: Preparation and Complications

What is knee replacement surgery?

Knee replacement surgery is a medical procedure where one’s knee is affected due to osteoarthritis, which primarily occurs due to wear and tear in the joint cartilage and underlying bone. The physician may recommend surgery only if the prescribed medication and therapies have shown little to no results.

The surgery requires the doctor to eliminate the damaged bone and cartilage before planting the artificial joint that’s made of plastic / synthetic / metal. All knee replacement surgeries require anesthesia to prevent the patient from feeling pain from the operation.

Depending on the patient’s condition, the surgeon may choose to either perform a general anesthesia or a regional anesthesia, however both have their share of side effects. 

Although, not a very major surgery, total knee replacement still requires a considerable amount of medical expertise and attention as it also has its own risks and complications: 

- Redness

- Swelling

- Discharge from the surgical site

- Fever and chills

- Bleeding during and / or after the surgery 

- Blood clots

- Pain and swelling which doctors may recommend pain relievers

- Breathing problems: Some patients may experience difficulty in breathing especially post a general anesthesia

- Nerve and artery damage: A rare case where a doctor might have accidentally injured the wrong nerve

- Allergic reaction

- Implant failure: Although technology has advanced and doctors are more experienced now but there still persists certain medical exceptions. 

How to recover from knee replacement surgery?

It’s always encouraged for patients to ambulate the same day as their knee surgery with the help of a walker or some other orthopedic device. That being said, sometimes depending on the patient’s condition, doctors may even advise the patient to stay back at the hospital for a day or two. In rare cases, patients may need to be transferred to another hospital for further rehabilitation. However, maximum efforts are always made towards ensuring the patient reaches his home environment either the same day or as soon as possible. Recovery is always a speedier process when the patient returns to the comfort of his own home.