Hi everyone. I just found this group and maybe I'm a little late to the game but maybe I can get some advice from others who have gone through what I have.
I had TKA back in February 2026. The complications started about a week after surgery. The wound never healed all the way. Down under the knee I had a open section about an inch and a quarter long by about half an inch wide and half an inch deep. That started leaking while I was at physical therapy. And that's when the infection started
I had a stage one surgery end of June 2026. Three/4 weeks later my knee swelled up like a grapefruit. It was massive! Doctor took out 60 mL of of reddish yellow fluid and said your knee is fully infected again.. And it's infected with Staphylococcus lugdunensis, supposedly that's the mild kind.
But last week I saw a knee orthopedic specialist, who is more specialist than the specialist I was seeing. He recommends a two stage operation. Take it apart put it back together with special cement. 3 to 6 months later put it all back together.
I'm having nightmares about having surgery again and I don't wanna do it. There's no guarantee that it will work.
Has anyone out there tried doing direct injections of antibiotics into the knee joint itself. To try and destroy the biofilm that surrounding the implant? I've read that they've also used to direct inject antibiotics into the bone marrow instead of using antibiotic cement to hold in your replacements. Has anyone tried that?
And recently I saw a doctor here in Atlanta who is using shockwave of therapy to break up the biofilm in a man who is about to have his knee amputated due to a heavily infected TKA.
I found a few other specialists online who handle infected joints. And I am looking to avoid the stage two surgery . Anyone had any miracles or "Hail Mary" treatments that have save the day?
Oh yeah last thing, I'm having nightmares, really weird nightmares. And I don't wanna get out of bed anymore, and I'm sleeping a lot more than I should, I asked the surgeons office for a name of a psychiatrist to speak to, and they said that's not my department. I feel like I am a cog in a money making machine and the process now is just to hand you off to the next specialist to do more surgery. And turn my knee into an ugly battlefield. Sorry to wax poetically but I'm kind of getting desperate.