If you’ve seriously injured your knee and are considering knee surgery, total Knee Replacement could be the best way to get your back on your feet after an accident. However, although knee replacement surgery comes with a number of benefits in terms of mobility and range of motion, there are a few risks that patients should consider before making a decision. No one should have to live in a state of constant pain, and undergoing knee surgery can help patients who have been suffering from chronic knee pain for years. If you’re thinking about consulting your doctor about total knee replacement, here some things to consider beforehand.
Benefit: Pain Relief
If you’ve suffered from knee pain for awhile, you know how pervasive the pain can be in terms of affecting your life and your ability to participate in everyday activities. Because knee injuries affect the surrounding bone and cartilage in the knee joint, even the most low-impact movements like standing up, walking around, or even changing positions in bed can result in shattering pain through a patient’s leg. It doesn’t take long for this kind of suffering to limit a patient’s mobility and affect their mental health. When walking feels like a strain, living a normal life can feel like a challenge. Total knee replacement gets rid of the diseased part of the knee and replaces it with a healthy, functional implant that won’t fall prey to the same weakness.
Benefit: Increased Mobility
While being able to get back to a more active routine after knee replacement surgery isn’t a guarantee, the results often show a radical improvement in terms of what patients are able to do with the proper rehabilitation. More than 90 percent of patients report greater knee mobility after the surgery, and many are able to engage in basic activities such as walking, golfing, and bike riding without pain.
Risk: Complications During Surgery
As with any surgery, there are certain candidates who are suggested to opt out due to pre-existing health conditions. When it comes to undergoing total knee replacement surgery, patients with longstanding medical issues including heart and lung issues as well as diabetes are at higher risk for complications like blood clots or infections during surgery. However, the total amount of patients who deal with these complications fall under 2 percent.
Risk: Implant Issues
When an implant is swapped out for a patient’s damaged knee, it should be able to last for up to 20 years afterward. Most implants are made of either plastic or metal and can allow patients a better range of motion with rehabilitation and practice. However, when the body receives an implant, there’s a small chance of that implant becoming loose with time, especially in the case of more high-impact activity. In extremely rare cases, the body will reject the implant entirely. The overwhelming majority of knee surgery patients, however, do not have to deal with these issues, especially if they’ve undergone physical therapy and continue to do rehabilitation exercises on their own each day.
