Knee Replacement Surgery

Total Knee Replacement is sometimes recommended for advanced stage arthritis that does not respond to nonoperative treatments. A Partial or Total Knee Replacement is a surgical procedure which involves the replacement of the worn-out parts of the knee with an artificial joint. A total knee replacement implies that everything about the joint is being replaced - which isn't true. What is actually being done is just a resurfacing of the bones of the joint. The prosthesis that is used is made up of plastic and metal and is placed on the joint surface of each bone. Most of the ligaments and all of the tendons remain intact. This allows the bones to glide against each other and allow the knee to bend and move without pain.

Why Knee Replacement?

It is important for you to realize that this is an elective surgical procedure which means that you have to choose it. It's not absolutely essential, although almost certainly you would be improved by it as long as there are no major complications.

The main thing that we would like to achieve and the main purpose for doing a total knee replacement is to reduce your discomfort. We would expect that most people who have a total knee replacement would have either no pain whatsoever, or very minimal occasional pain which would not require any medication. Obviously, there are a lot of things that can cause discomfort around the knee that have nothing to do with a knee replacement. We do not replace tendons, ligaments, or muscles. All of these can possibly be the source of discomfort. Many times this type of pain can be controlled with anti-inflammatory medication and, if you are taking that type of medication now, it's possible that you may still need to take that medication after the operation.

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