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Partial Knee Replacement


cheryl

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When I was in rehab for a different orthopedic project, there was a guy with bandages on both knees.

It makes sense to me, one hospital stay, one campaign of PT, and you are set.

But ask the doctor and therapist.

There are pros and cons with doing both knees at once. The pros are exactly as you say, you just get the surgery over with and the rehabilitation is half as much. I've worked with a few bilateral knee replacements and they went great, and I even made a video of the rehab of one patient just 5 weeks post op.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2G_994rSrw

The con is that it's a more risky procedure, with greater risks of serious complications during and afterwards so there is debate regarding whether the benefits offset the risks, and subsequently only some surgeons perform them and generally only on lower risk patients. The patient in the above video was otherwise healthy, wasn't overweight, etc, so her risk factors were few.

Edited by badchad
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I had my right knee replaced 19 months ago. The left was done in April of this year. The right needed to be done because of a tibia plateau fracture that required 3 months of external fixation. The result was a knee that bent to only 85 degrees. After the replacement I have 120 degrees of bend. Unfortunately 12 years of a bad right knee, really screwed up my left. I am amazed how fast my left knee went down hill after getting the right replaced.

My left knee is still in the process of rehab. I'm at 110 degrees of bend and getting better each day. Some days are better than others. My right knee required a modified incision because of previous surgeries. The incision was not over the knee cap. My left knee has a standard incision. The rehab was different for each, with the left being harder to make progress. Tomorrow is my 90 day post op appt.

I promised myself once I got my knees fixed, I was going to shoot 3 gun. Been shooting many years and have competed in some shooting sports, mostly trap and skeet. So I'm new around here. I have no expectations of being the fastest getting from place to place. But for me, just competing will be it's own reward.

To give you idea just how bad my right was, attached is a picture of my leg 1 day after my third surgery in 3 days after I broke my tibia plateau. If this picture is a goes against the Forum rules, moderators please feel free to remove it.

It's not for the squeamish. I had compartment syndrome. The large incision running down the calf is a fasciotomy. Without it I would have lost my leg below the knee.

For those considering a total or partial knee, do it. Having mine down has great improved my quality of life. I hiked in Rocky Mountain National Park a month ago. I couldn't do as much as I liked, but without the replacements, I would have been siting at the cabin.

post-54453-0-21555400-1404256825_thumb.j

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Partial knee replacement surgery took place last Tuesday, July 8. Procedure was successful. Was up & walking the next day. I knew beforehand that physical therapy took grit and I was right, but I am being a good girl and working that knee.

Thank you for all the great guidance and advice - it is paying off.

Cheryl

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