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Arthroscopic Knee Surgery Problems

Arthroscopic surgery, like any surgical procedure, can have complications when it's over. Understanding what to look for can be vital in ensuring your knee heals as quickly and efficiently as possible. Depending on the amount of surgical procedures required, complications may be present to a greater or lesser extent.

  1. Post-Operative Bleeding

    • There may be some post-operative bleeding. Generally, this is not a cause for concern but if it causes undue swelling in the area of the procedure, you may need to visit your doctor to have the blood taken out through aspiration.

    Infection

    • Because the surgeon had to open up an area of your body, infection following surgery is always a concern. The infection can be due to the insertion of a piece of equipment that wasn't properly sterilized or from airborne contaminants finding their way into the wound. Infection can be treated with oral antibiotics, or if the infection is too large, a secondary arthroscopic procedure may be required to clean out the infection.

    Phlebitis

    • Phlebitis is what is commonly called blood clots. These are fairly rare with arthroscopic procedures because there tends to be less cutting involved. When they do happen, however, they can be quite serious. Phlebitis can lead to a pulmonary embolism where the blood clot gets free in the blood stream and can cause shortness of breath, a rapid heart beat, and, occasionally, sudden death. If you have phlebitis, you will need to go back to the hospital and begin receiving blood thinners to help with the condition.

    Nerve Injury

    • This type of complication is most commonly associated with meniscal repair. Damage to the nerves in the surgically repaired area could result in anything from no effect to permanent disability in the limb being worked on. Today's arthroscopic procedures have done a lot to greatly reduce the risk of nerve injury by protecting the nerves with a retractor.

    Tourniquet Palsy

    • Arthroscopic surgery requires that the doctor slow the blood flow to the area being operated on. They use an advanced form of a tourniquet to do this. Complications occurring during the course of surgery can extend the amount of time needed to complete the arthroscopic procedure and result in a short-term condition called tourniquet palsy. Tourniquet palsy generally results in some numbness of the tourniqueted limb but normally doesn't last for more than 24 hours.

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