I had a bad left hip. While suffering from it, I also had left knee pain. After my surgeon replaced my left hip, the knee pain went away.

Now my right knee needs replacement (I am scheduled for a TKR in late September) and I am having pain in my foot and ankle. I went so far as to have an appointment with a foot and ankle doctor to make sure that there was nothing major there and he confirmed that was the case. He and my knee surgeon both think (one never knows until after) that the pain in the foot and ankle is coming from the bad knee.

So...yes...referred pain is a real thing!

HOWEVER, in my opinion one needs an excellent surgeon and one that the patient can trust. If you don't trust your current doctor, get a new one but check him or her out for reviews, etc.

When talking about a "lateral" approach I believe you are referring to a minimally invasive approach with a ligament/muscle sparing approach. One such approach is called "Jiffy Knee" but that is really a subset of an approach called "subvastus" or "subV". I believe that is the best approach for most people but I also believe that having a surgeon who has done it at least hundreds of times is more important.

That is what I am doing with my TKR next month.