Total Knee Replacement Surgery

If you have been told you need total knee replacement surgery you might be a bit concerned about what it all involves.  Luckily there is a lot of information available because this is such a common procedure. Like all other surgery there are risks involved and it is probably important that you consider these before going ahead with anything. Hopefully by the end of this article you will have a much better idea about total knee replacement surgery and be able to decide if it is a good option for you.

What is Total Knee Replacement Surgery?

Total knee replacement surgery is most often required by people who have a damaged knee joint due to a disease process like arthritis. The surgery actually involves replacing the damage knee with an artificial one. This can restore a lot of mobility but the individual will have to avoid certain high impact sports. There are two different types of knee replacement; a partial replacement and a total replacement. This surgery is most often required for people who are over 60 and in the UK alone there are more than 70,000 such procedures performed every year.

The actual procedure of total knee replacement surgery involves removing the damaged tissue in the knee joint and replacing this with artificial components that perform the same task. During the procedure you will be put to sleep using a general anaesthetic and you will be cared for by a group of surgeons and nurses – the person in charge will be the senior consultant who will personally direct everything. In order to get to the knee the surgeon will need to cut using surgical instruments; this will leave a scar afterwards.

The Risks Associated With Total Knee Replacement Surgery

There are risks associated with every type of surgery and this one is no different. The fact that it tends to be older people who need this procedure increases the amount of risk. Less than 5% of people having this type of surgery will develop any complications and this makes it a relatively safe procedure. The most common complications include; infection due to the wound, scar formation that hinders knee movement, blood clots which could cause a deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and allergic reaction to the artificial knee, nerve damage, or excess bone formation. These risks do sound quite scary but it really needs to be said again that the vast majority of people suffer no complications. One other dangerous risk that applies to all surgery involving a general anaesthetic is that you could have a reaction to this; if you have had surgery in the past then this is going to be less likely to happen.

Should You Have Total Knee Replacement Surgery

The benefits that total knee replacement surgery can bring to people’s lives make it something to seriously consider. There are risks just like other types of surgery but most people who have the surgery will be very glad they did. Your surgical team will be able to provide you with more information if you require it.