The Pros And Cons Of Having Knee Replacement Surgery
Posted on: 2 December 2014
Often, when people have problems with their knees such as osteoarthritis, and traditional exercises, pain killers, anti-inflammatory drugs and other treatments don't help, orthopaedic surgeons recommend knee replacement surgery. For some people, this is the ideal solution. If your doctor has recommended that you have knee replacement, it is important that you do as much research on your own as possible before agreeing. Read on to learn more about the pros and cons of knee replacement surgery.
Pros
Obviously, one of the biggest benefits of having an orthopaedic surgeon perform knee replacement surgery is that you will no longer have a lot of knee pain. The arthritic joint is removed, thereby eliminating the pain. Of course, there will be some pain following the surgery, but the more you exercise and get back to your normal activities, the sooner that pain will disappear.
Another benefit is that you will have a better range of motion. With osteoarthritis, the worse it gets, the less range of motion the patient has, and it gets more and more difficult to walk, climb stairs, etc. Once the new joint is in place, there will be a much better range of motion.
When you have knee pain from osteoarthritis or other conditions, just doing simple tasks like going to the kitchen for a drink can be excruciatingly painful. After a knee replacement surgery, patients report that they are able to get back to doing their regular activities, and even do things that they were never able to do before because of the pain in their knees.
Cons
One of the biggest problems with knee replacement surgery is that the replacement joints aren't meant to last for a lifetime. Most patients must eventually have the procedure done again. Generally, replacement joints last up to 20 years.
In some cases, the new joint doesn't function as it should. This is going to lead to as much pain as the patient was experiencing before the knee replacement surgery. If the problem is severe, the orthopaedic surgeon may recommend that a different replacement joint be used, which means the patient will have to undergo more surgery.
Like any type of surgical procedure, there is always the risk of infection when you have knee replacement surgery. It is important for patients to take prescribed antibiotics to ward off infections and to keep the incision site as clean as possible after surgery.
Share