failed total knee preplacement. surgery 6/11/2026. fracture bone

2nd opinion?

Yes, please and try to see the most qualified surgeon with lots of experience in knee replacement, excellent education, and high ratings.

@maryjbrooks2017 Please do your research and get a 2nd opinion. Blessings & Prayers....

I had to get a knee replacement in 2001. Fractured bone from when I was younger eventually went necrotic on my lower portion of a condile. That took at least 5 years to get back to where I was comfortable. And sort of forgot about it.. I played heavy tennis up to that point in my life. But no more.. Twenty five years later, it's still not perfect. So I would say with your recovery time period take a year off and go to the gym.. You're a nowhere close to healed. There's physical therapists out there that will slow you down and help you with this recovery.

Have you had a serious discussion with your physical therapist? Good ones are golden. Mine recommended a different surgeon for my other knee replacement. Best recommendation, even though the surgeon who did my left knee was good, but older and very close to retirement. I agree with b tgebother suggestions about a second opinion, but maybe get the recommendation from a medical person you trust. If you are seeing a reputable PT, they probably have ideas about why you are experiencing those symptoms.

I think too many surgeons do exactly what you fear. But you may not have that surgeon. You are scheduled for a CT scan. Most of the horror stories I have seen on this forum were that the surgeon looked at x-rays and then said everything looks ok, go away. Yours, apparently, scheduled a CT scan which is a better alternative.

Your ROM is barely above the minimum. Do you know what it is on your good knee. Your surgeon and PA should be striving to get your ROM to around what you used to have and I find it hard to believe that a tennis player would have had a ROM anywhere near yours. So you have two issues (at least): a slow recovery or ROM and knee buckling.

Are you happy with your PT? There are two players here (surgeon and PT) and you need both working well.
Has your surgeon been working with you to here on these issues and what has he been saying during the earlier 68 days?

I’ve had a similar situation with a TKR in 2014. It was a faulty knee that was never recalled. The cement did not stick to the bone and was absorbed into my system. Needless to say it felt loose and made lots of noises. I was told by the surgeon that all TNR’s made noise and not to worry about it.

By 2017 the insurance had changed and I needed a new surgeon on my plan. Not too many do revisions so the search can be frustrating. The doc I found immediately did a nuclear scan and not only was my tibial plateau fractured but the knee was “lit up” on the scan. He went in and replaced the tibial component along with reinforcing the broken tibial plateau with cement. That eventually disappeared and I had a bigger break and the bone had absorbed into my system. So now I’m looking at a loose part, a big chunk of the tibial plateau missing and a very unstable knee. I thought finding a doc willing to take on a first revision was tough but a 2nd revision narrows the field even more. I would suggest finding a teaching/research hospital where they do the cutting edge work. I found an angel at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles willing to take on the case and I’m presently in pre-PT mode getting as strong as I can before the surgery. The plan she has is to start from scratch, implant a tibial plateau replacement part and replace both the femur and tibial components. It will not be an easy one but hopefully the result will be best. I also had a bout of patella clunk after the first replacement which needed a quick outpatient procedure to repair. It has not been fun. All of that said, the physical therapists and surgeons are your team and need to be an integral part of your treatment. Also the PA’s are really helpful when you have treatment questions or need medication refills. Good luck!

Excellent post. I search for a surgeon for a TKR in the reverse of your experience. I search for a TKR
surgeon who does difficult revisions, partials and totals. My surgeon, for example, spends about 20% of his surgical time doing revisions of other surgeons' work. A surgeon such as the one you found is my goal from the get go.

I am sorry you had to go through so much but it does sound like you now have an excellent surgeon. Assuming she is as good as it looks, once she finishes give us her name so others in the LA area can look for her.

I had a revision of my left knee in 2018, and have no pain in my knee. That's the great news. It was the events leading to the revision, that took its toll. Let me preface this by saying, I had a hx of 5 surgeries between both knees. The first and second at ages 16 and 18 for dislocating knee caps. I had issues through the years with pain and swelling, limited rom, but still played tennis and did a lot of line dancing. I took nsaids for pain, but developed ulcers and was switched to vioxx, which was a great drug, but was taken off the market. Went the gabapentin then lyrica route and gained considerable weight. By age 54, 2 years of cortisone injections and a " clean up surgery" on right knee, doc told me it was time for metal. 2009 had right total knee. I had pain post surgery and for almost a year tolerable pain. And it's been great since. Left knee, saw head of the orthopedic department at university affiliated hospital. He went straight to total knee. We discussed the device, because I felt strongly about how well I did with right knee. I had pain post surgery, when the pain started to get worse after 9 months I toughed it out, but it got to the point, I couldn't bear weight, and was using a walker. During our appt. One of the ortho fellows was also present, the xrays noted translucent areas where the cement had loosened and essentially fractured the top of the tibia. He thought there was an infection in the knee. I knew there was no infection . When I saw the xrays, it was clear he had used a shallow cup device, different than what we discussed. He didnt recall the discussion. I asked if he would consider ordering something for pain and he said" I dont want you to end up like Prince. The only thing I will give you is a splint" No empathy. No way would I let him do the repair. But those of you who have experienced other ortho doc's reluctance to work on someone else's failure, know what it's like. I spoke with 9 different physician groups. Finally, a doc who was new to the area agreed to see me. His specialty was hands. Despite that, he said he had done a few knees my surgery. He did treat me for pain prior to and after. I had limited pain after surgery in 2018 and was pain free in 6 Mos. He did a great job. Eternally grateful.

Your Medicare age so you can go anywhere to a licensed Medicare physician you don’t need a referral. Since I have had many joint replacement surgeries, I will suggest to you that you visit other orthopedic surgeons and get multiple opinions. That way you can trust what eventually comes to light. You also haven’t given healing NEARLY enough time! I can suggest from my experience with hip replacements. That three months is needed to get out of your postop condition where surgical swelling has retreated in five months is needed where you feel like “OK you got this!” and things start moving more smoothly and one year is needed to put it behind you. Sometimes people grow scar tissue and that has to be dealt with. Sometimes people need to go under anesthesia and have their knees bent to make the mobility return. I hope you are doing all the baby exercises that they require you to do after surgery and keeping a calendar of your progress your setbacks and the exercise exercises. Don’t that they require you to do after surgery and keeping a calendar of your progress you’re setbacks and the exercises. Don’t get ahead of your skis.
I didn’t quite understand if you had a fracture occur(which I did in one hip) or if you are expecting one from your CT because of your pain.
Yes, cookie cutter is a good way to explain it because the body follows a certain path to healing for 90% of the people and healthcare has had to go to cookie cutter practicing.
Two months is enough time for cookie cutter, surgical swelling to abate and whole body inflammation to settle down from the surgery however, IF you are an overachiever it is possible you’re standing in the way of your own healing. I do suggest you follow the rules and if for some reason you don’t feel sufficiently attended to with what you received, then go online and there is tons of information which should point you in the same direction. I know it’s really hard if you’re used to being physically active to relax and not want to heal faster than your body provides for. Good luck. PS also something to try is an MFR therapist they are amazing and you can make a lot of progress by finding a really good one and they can also diagnose problems and work to support you during this difficult time.