@ray666 I had two levels of knee pain. I had moderate continuous pain from the knee. But I had extreme and unpredictable pain if I stepped the wrong way running down my leg because I was severely misaligned and it was causing a nerve impingement. Fortunately it never happened when I was crossing a street as I had to stop and freeze when it happened.

Is your pain from arthritis. If it is, it will likely keep getting worse. You like your ortho, what does he say.

One unsolicited thought about your ortho if you decide to go forward with a TKR. Surgeons, especially great ones, tend to be narcissistic and not especially good at communications. My view is that I don't care; I just want the very best mind and hands available.

My view is that the surgeon I want does a minimally invasive procedure (subvastus or midvastus), does not routinely use a tourniquet, does a modern alignment (Functional or at least kinematic or inverse kinematic), has great hands, has a great mind, and HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE DOING THE EXACT PROCEDURE I AM GOING TO GET. I would add a robotic assistant if there is any chance that the surgery will get complex and if my surgeon does a Functional alignment (which involves soft tissue work so the added precision is critical).

But your surgeon must be available for you if anything goes wrong. So I do add an element of the surgeon's availability and that of his team. For example, when I came out of my surgery and was in the recovery room, my surgeon gave me a one page sheet detailing my first week recovery protocol and providing a phone number which he promised would be answered 24/7 by either himself or his principal PA.

If your surgeon meets all of these, you are well on your way to maximizing your chance at a successful surgery and recovery.