What to Expect After Knee Surgery

Knee surgery has become one of the more common, more successful surgeries in orthopedics today. Because of the size of the knee joint, and the stress it endures, it is the most common sports injury and also the most common joint to experience degenerative arthritis as people age. In today's society, where people generally weigh more, exercise less and live longer, the knee joint is sustaining more long-term stress than nature necessarily intended.

Types

• There are many types of knee surgeries; however, the two main types are: arthroscopic and open. Arthroscopic knee surgery is when several small incisions are made, instruments inserted through the small openings, and the surgery performed within the joint - negating the need to make a large incision and open the joint. The second type of surgery, as the name implies, opens the joint to expose a large portion of bone and tissue to be worked on by the surgeon. This is usually avoided when possible, but done without hesitation if the need arises.

Significance

• The significance of knee surgery is that, in many cases, it greatly improves the quality of life of the patient. More often than not, the patient has endured a long period of pain and slow debilitation related to their knee injuries, so a surgery, while itself painful, often provides a level of activity and pain-reduction that makes the risks of the surgery itself quite worth it. Especially in the case of total knee replacements, where the patient has to be at the end stage of disease in the joint, a sudden ability to use the joint in a normal manner is invigorating and breathes new life into the patient. Even in the smaller cases of sports injury, the improvement in function and pain reduction that knee surgery brings can make a huge difference in the life of the athlete.

Time Frame

• In general, before knee surgery, you will know exactly what to expect as far as pain, recovery, and time to get back to normal. Any good orthopedic doctor will go over all these possibilities with you. If you are having a small arthroscopic surgery, you will go home the same day as the operation. Pain will be minimal, and activity resumed in a few short weeks. If you are having an open surgery, such as knee replacement or patellar realignment, you will stay in the hospital anywhere from two to five days, and are looking at months of intense physical therapy to resume normal activities. It is important to talk to the doctor about your recovery time, so you can make whatever arrangements may be necessary for the time you are down and out.

Considerations

• Things to consider when recovering from knee surgery include: activity level, weight, and diet. Depending on the type of surgery it may or may not permanently affect your lifestyle. Knee replacement or patellar realignment will preclude any running, jumping, or other activities that produce undue stress on the knee joint. Smaller surgeries, such as arthroscopic to fix meniscus tears or ACL tears, will often heal as good as new, and once physical therapy has been completed, all normal activity, including sports, can be resumed. But maintaining a healthy weight will greatly help your knee joints recover and stay healthy longer, after any knee surgery.

Benefits

• The benefits of knee surgery are huge. As mentioned above, many times patients have been suffering for a long time from the effects of their injury or disease. When surgery is performed, and the healing and physical therapy completed, patients are often amazed at how much their function and pain has improved. Especially in the cases of degenerative arthritis, where the bones have been grinding against each other for extensive periods - sometimes causing excruciating pain with something as simple as walking - surgery can actually provide immediate relief. In the cases of injury or deformity, surgery can bring back functionality and improve life. So, although surgery is usually the last option considered for knee problems, when it is applied, it is often more beneficial than not.