Total knee replacement infection........then what?

Posted by titia131 @titia131, Oct 27, 2018

I had total knee replacement, after 8 weeks the Dr. Admitted the knee was infected and immediately did surgery and put in a spacer knee. Now after 6 weeks of home IV antibiotics, I anticipate what is next. I have had home health PT, but the knee is not moving very good. Should I continue PT? How long will they wait before doing surgery again to put in real knee replacement parts? Thanks for your comments.

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Hello @titia131, welcome to Connect. I think you may find the following discussion worth your time to read through as well. It is about infections and spacers for hip replacements and although that is not exactly what you are going through, I think there would be a lot of similarities in experience: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-kind-of-mobility-can-i-expect-with-an-antibiotic-spacer-in-my-hip/.

@titia131, from what I have read in the above discussion, many people had to wait until their physician was confident that the infection had cleared up before putting in the new joint. @lynettegable and @pamstravel talked about an infection above the knee and may be able to offer some more insight. Are you making any progress in your PT, even if it is slow? Did your surgeon give any hint about how long you would have to wait? If you don't mind answering, how are you getting along with the spacer knee?

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@JustinMcClanahan

Hello @titia131, welcome to Connect. I think you may find the following discussion worth your time to read through as well. It is about infections and spacers for hip replacements and although that is not exactly what you are going through, I think there would be a lot of similarities in experience: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-kind-of-mobility-can-i-expect-with-an-antibiotic-spacer-in-my-hip/.

@titia131, from what I have read in the above discussion, many people had to wait until their physician was confident that the infection had cleared up before putting in the new joint. @lynettegable and @pamstravel talked about an infection above the knee and may be able to offer some more insight. Are you making any progress in your PT, even if it is slow? Did your surgeon give any hint about how long you would have to wait? If you don't mind answering, how are you getting along with the spacer knee?

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I am walking with the spacer in the knee, but using a cane or extra stabilization, my knee is very sore and just doesn't move easily, it has been six weeks since surgery, very slow but increasing each day. Thanks for your information.

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