No surgery goes perfectly every single time, but knee replacement has one of the highest success rates in the industry. More than 95 percent of knee replacements last more than 15 years, and the vast majority of patients never need a second surgery. With all that said, there’s still a sizeable portion of Americans who have problems with their new artificial knee. In today’s blog, we explore some of the reasons why a knee replacement may not last as long as expected, and we explain how we work to prevent these potential pitfalls.
Problems That Can Affect Your New Artificial Knee
Here’s a look at four problems that can threaten the integrity of your new knee, and how Dr. Botero and his staff work to prevent these complications. The focus of this blog will be on problems that can affect you after you’ve been discharged.
- Infection – An infection can also develop during the surgery itself, but it can also be a problem once you’ve been discharged. If bacteria find their way onto the artificial hardware or if you don’t care for your incisions properly, an infection can set in. To prevent possible infections, our team carefully sterilizes and disinfects all hardware with techniques that go above and beyond the industry requirements. But to take it one step further, we also use surgical techniques that reduce the size of your incision site so that healing is shorter and there’s less chance for bacteria to make its way into your system, and we take the time to educate each patient on the best and safest ways to clean their incision site while they are recovering at home.
- Instability – Another issue that can threaten the proper functioning of your new knee is instability. Whether it was the root cause for your need to have your knee replaced, or the area is simply weakened from the trauma of surgery, if the supportive soft tissues around your knee joint can’t adequately handle stress, it’s going to overwork your new knee. Our surgical team uses advanced techniques to minimize damage to nearby tissues so they can avoid becoming unstable, and we connect you with physical therapists that work to strengthen your knee and the supportive muscles and ligaments in the area to give you a sense of stability in your new knee.
- Fractures – Significant trauma to the knee can lead to a fracture, and that can disrupt the healthy function of your artificial joint. Not every fracture is preventable, but we give our patients all the tools they need to reduce their risk. We educate them on safe rehab progression and we get them moving as soon as possible to help strengthen the knee and help them gain confidence in their new joint. Physical therapists can also explain how you can safely return to some higher intensity activities, like running or hiking, without exposing the surrounding bones in your knee to fracture risk.
- Stiffness – While stiffness after joint replacement may not be as threatening to the integrity of your new knee as an infection or fracture, you didn’t choose to have knee replacement surgery to continue dealing with stiffness and an inhibited range of motion. We use minimally invasive techniques during our knee replacement so patients can begin movement and range of motion exercises much sooner. Controlled movements at an early stage of recovery are crucial for reestablishing your range of motion and preventing stiffness from setting in. Our rehab program ensures you have a great chance of maintaining maximum flexibility in your knee for years to come.
For more information, or for answers to questions you have about knee replacement, reach out to Dr. Botero’s clinic today.
