One of the most common questions we receive at our clinic when a patient is scheduled to undergo a total knee replacement surgery is if they’ll eventually need to have the same procedure on their other knee. We can’t say for certain either way, but in today’s blog, we’re going to take a look at some of the data and provide some of our own personal experiences when answering the question as to whether or not you’ll eventually need to have your other knee replaced.
Will My Other Knee Need To Be Replaced?
To get a better understanding as to whether or not your other knee will eventually need to be replaced, let’s look at a clinical study on the subject. A recent study took a closer look at 2,000 knee replacement patients who had their knees replaced between 1969 and 2008. Of those 2,000 patients, 809 had their other knee replaced within 11 years of the initial replacement. In other words, more than 40 percent opted to have their other knee replaced within 11 years of their first surgery, and most of them had the procedure performed within a decade.
So while that’s just one study, it does suggest that just under half of knee replacement patients can expect to have the same procedure performed on their other knee at some point down the road. It’s by no means a guarantee, but in most cases, it’s not an acute traumatic incident that led to the need to have one knee replaced. Typically, it’s stress and repetitive strain on the years that leads to micro-degeneration of the joint.
When we walk, jump or run, both knees absorb a similar amount of stress. And while biomechanical differences and gait patterns may mean that one knee is handling slightly more stress, if one knee has degeneration, the other knee probably does as well. It’s very rare for one knee to be in great shape while the other is significantly degenerated, so outside of trauma to one knee that led to advanced arthritis degeneration, odds are your “healthy” knee will have plenty of wear and tear on its own. There’s a good chance it will need to be replaced down the road.
With that said, it’s unlikely that a knee replacement will be the driving force in the need to have the other knee replaced. In fact, the sooner your “bad” knee is replaced, the longer you may be able to get by with your “good” knee. When you have a knee joint that has deteriorated to the point that you’re planning on replacing it, you’ll naturally begin to protect the area by working to take stress and strain off that knee.
How Do you Do This?
By shifting the stress onto your other leg. This means that your “good” knee is now handling even more stress than normal, which could lead to advanced degeneration in that knee if you delay in getting the other knee replaced. But if you get the degenerative knee joint replaced in a timely manner, your artificial joint can start providing support to your body sooner, shielding your remaining knee joint from excess stress. Delaying knee surgery only increases the likelihood that you’ll eventually need to have both knees replaced, so keep that in mind when considering your treatment options.
So if you have been battling knee pain and you’re wondering if a replacement operation could help solve your pain, talk to a specialist like Dr. Botero. We can walk you through your non-surgical and operative options, but if surgery is the best route, getting that on the schedule sooner can help reduce the likelihood that you’ll need to have your other knee replaced down the road. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, give Dr. Botero’s office a call today at (865) 558-4444.
