Whatever the cause, if initial treatment has already been carried out and the symptoms have not improved, the doctor will likely recommend knee-replacement surgery. It sounds like a big deal, but don’t be alarmed. Today, we are going to make knee-replacement surgery easy for everyone to understand.
Just talking about any type of surgery is already worrisome for most people, but this is total knee-replacement surgery! Most likely just the thought of this will cause anxiety — either because of the expected pain due to surgery or because of the extended recuperation period. However, these are no longer issues that should cause worry or concern, thanks to the huge advances that have been made in modern medical technology. Today, surgical procedures of this kind are easy and convenient. They involve minimal pain and are far more accurate than ever before.
If you do find out that you need to undergo knee-replacement surgery, your doctor will use a surgical procedure known as MIS (minimally invasive surgery) TKA (total knee arthroplasty). MIS TKA is a type of surgery that involves tiny incisions, thus avoiding trauma to surrounding muscles and tissues once the incisions have been made. The surgeon will then insert high-flexion implants into the knee. This surgical method means much smaller incisions, minimal blood loss, reduced postoperative pain and much faster recovery. On average, patients need to spend no more than three days recovering in the hospital and, surprisingly and most importantly, patients can generally begin walking within just 24 hours after surgery — a very fast recovery period that is made even more amazing by the excellent outcome.
Currently, most doctors consider minimally invasive total knee arthroplasty to be the standard procedure for knee replacement surgery. Of course, prior to the surgical procedure, the doctor will first carry out a diagnosis using standard methods, including questions about the patient’s knee symptoms and a physical examination to find out how much swelling is present. This will determine whether there is any deformity or angling of the knee either outward or inward, and assess the flexion and extension of the knee. Once, after re-checking the X-ray results, the doctor is certain that the patient has osteoarthritis and must undergo total knee replacement, then surgery will be carried out.
So as you can see, total knee replacement surgery, once you know and understand it properly, is no longer an issue to cause worry or fear. Anyone of us has the possibility of getting sick or developing osteoarthritis at some time, as age is a major risk factor for bone and joint conditions. No matter how much we try to prevent these things, they are difficult to control, since bone deterioration is common with aging. It’s important, therefore, to understand that it may not be as difficult as you previously thought, and that knee replacement surgery is not something you need to worry about any longer.
If you know and understand something properly, it’s really not as scary as you might have thought. If you do one day find yourself dealing with this condition, keep smiling, put your mind at ease, go ahead with surgery in line with your doctor’s recommendations, and your pain will disappear. You’ll be able to walk normally and carry on with your lifestyle as before.
