I found the infographic below on knee replacements to be interesting. The statistics match those from within my own practice — and the creators provide you with the scientific links for their statistics.
Knee Replacements…
…are being performed more often than ever before. The baby boomer generation is entering the age cycle when arthritis occurs. Proceeding with a knee replacement involves a lot of preparation. You need to know why the surgeon is recommending the replacement. A knee replacment is a quality of life decison above all else. You should tell your surgeon when you are ready for a knee replacement… not the other way around. Many people wonder how rapidly they’ll progress after a replacement … Luckily most knee replacement patients are up and walking with a cane or walker in 1-2 days with modern pain management techniques. You need to have realistic goals for your activity level after a knee replacement. You need to be in the hands of a surgeon who performs a lot of knee replacements. You should consider having your knee replacement procedure performed at an institution with an active pain management service. Newer pain management techniques have dramatically improved patient satisfaction and pain scores.
Many people wonder which type of knee to use… this should not be a big consideration. A properly placed and sized component is more important than the component itself. Note that 90+% of patients are satistfied with their knee replacment procedure. Those people probably have 10 different components in them.
Many patients look at others and wonder why they are progressing faster… or slower after their knee replacement. Not everyone recovers from knee replacement surgery at the same pace. Relax… the trend is your friend. As long as your motion is improving, your swelling is going down, your ability to walk is improving and you do not display any signs of infection or blood clots then you are doing fine. All surgeons have patients who ran out of the hospital within 12 hours of their knee replacement and are walking 5 miles within a day. That has far more to do with that patient, then it has to do with the surgeon.
Many people worry about potential side effects. Yes, they exist — and they are very real.
Keep studying… keep learning…keep thinking.
A good knee replacement can, in most instances restore your quality of life… assuming you’re not an ultra-triathlete.
Andrew Lavender says
Excellent infographic on knee surgery statistics, I’ve been looking for something like this that is less text heavy to refer my patients to should they have any worries about their surgery. Unfortunately, I can’t find one with statistics from the UK but I’ll keep looking.
Howard J. Luks, MD says
Let me know if you find one! I would love to add it on to the post since my audience is global and my interests are too ! :-) !
Thanks !
Howard Luks