My Knee Replacement Surgery Experience

I have advanced osteo in both knees. I also have DISH and Peripheral DISH. I have tried everything I can think of. I sometimes fall from the knee pain which is life threatening because of my DISH. I have had the ablation on the bottom 3 levels of facet joints 6 times in the last 9 years. That has worked great for my lower back. I noticed the FDA has approved ablation for the knees, SI joints, hips, and shoulders. What I need is a body transplant.

@ralph13 I also have advanced degenerative arthritis in my knees with my right knee being worse due to knee surgery in the 70s to remove torn cartilage. Now I have bone on bone in both knees but the right knee is the only one that bothers me. I'm planning on getting a total knee replacement in the Spring. I wasn't familiar with the FDA approval for the ablation so I did a little searching and I'm wondering if this was what you were referring to?

FDA Clears Halyard Health’s COOLIEF* for the Management of Osteoarthritis Knee Pain
-- http://www.orthospinenews.com/2017/04/20/fda-clears-halyard-healths-coolief-for-the-management-of-osteoarthritis-knee-pain/

I also found another article that may provide some more information on the Clinical Pain Advisor website.

Radiofrequency Ablation for Chronic Hip Pain: Reviewing the Evidence - March 2018
-- https://www.clinicalpainadvisor.com/arthritis/chronic-hip-pain-osteoarthritis-rheumatoid-arthritis-total-hip-arthroplasty-radiofrequency/article/753793/

John

Congratulations to all of you who have had good results from your knee replacement surgery. You are an inspiration to others. I think surgeons should have patients read or view videos from people who have had the surgery who followed recommendations and those who didn't. My husband's story will explain why I feel this way. Perhaps some pre-surgery psychological therapy should be done also.

My husband had knee replacement surgery on his right knee in June, 2015. He had no cartilage left in the joint and had put off the surgery for many years. I don't recommend doing this. At the time he was 68 years old, severely overweight and not at all active. During the surgery the surgeon decided to straighten his bowed leg. He now has one straight leg and one bowed leg. I don't recommend doing this either unless you plan to do the other leg in the future. The surgery went well and PT had him up and walking later that day. He left the hospital after 2 days and PT came to the house for several weeks. He didn't do the prescribed exercises as he should have, if the exercise caused more pain he stopped doing it. He progressed from a walker to a cane but refused to use the cane properly.

Now three years later he still has pain in the knee, he has about 75% extension and complains of numbness along the outer side of the knee. He was not able to progress to walking without the cane. He is unable to walk for any distance because of pain. This limits what he can do as an individual and what we can do as a couple.

Over the last few months the left knee has started causing more intense pain and he has to use his cane inside the house to walk a few steps. He refuses to consider another knee replacement because of the pain from the last surgery. He is even more sedentary than he was three years ago so I doubt that PT would be able to give him better mobility.

The moral of my story is if you have bowed legs and plan to have knee replacement surgery make sure this is discussed before surgery. Follow all orders for PT and do the exercises as prescribed. If you don't plan to take an active part in your recovery you can't expect good results and you are just wasting your time and that of the surgeon and PT staff.

H, I am 60 years old and am a racquetball/pickleball player. I had knee injury from soccer 45 years ago and it wasn't repaired due to various reasons. I managed to live with them until but had to get the right knee replace as it was bone on bone and deformed. I did this on Aug 10, the surgeon put a smith and nephew knee (journey 2), the recovery has been ok. Walking is fine and I have done PT religiously everyday. However the swelling is an issue. It starts ok in the morning but gets worse in an hour and stays that way. No matter how much icing and elevation I do. Has anyone had this experience and is it just a matter of time. I was using it regularly until about 2 weeks ago when the swelling increased and the knee had fluid which they drained and it came back. I have no pain but swelling makes it restrictive. Please share your experiences especially with swelling.

Good morning @tzraquetball, I am so glad to know that you have been a proactive patient about your medical issues. Even though we tend to become more aware of this kind of issue as we age, it is still discouraging to have to give up some activities that we really enjoy. So, if I interpreted your welcoming post correctly, you no longer play racquetball of pickleball because of the recurring swelling.

I have read about your Journey 2 replacement and it had considerable research regarding activity post-surgery. So I understand your concern and disappointment.

My first TKR was 12 years ago and other than one bout with swelling and pain, it has been fine. My second TKR was in August of 2021 and that was a Mako Robotic replacement. I am now 80 and still walking 2 miles a day.....doing Yoga and also special PT for balance and stability. What I had to realize was that my prior life which included "trekking" around our world with a group of friends had to come to a halt. I replaced that with more modest activities like Mahjongg. I also lived in the mountains at about 6000 ft. I found that walking uphill was fine but going downhill was a sure way to wear out my knee replacement. The swelling was an active deterrent.

First question: are you sure this is not a Banker's Cyst of some kind?
Second question: do you do the Yoga pose "legs up the wall"?
Third question: is there any chance you have experienced MFR, myofascial release therapy?

Even though my recovery from the second TKR was "textbook", I still must be careful. When the swelling occurred my MFR therapist was able to move the fluid up my leg so that it could be released upon urination.

MFR is discussed on Connect right here: http://www.connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and pain.

Please give that a read and for more member information just go to the search bar at the top of this screen and enter "MFR". Press the magnifying glass at the end of the search opening and that will show you every post in which MFR is discussed.

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

May you be free of suffering and the causes of suffering.
Chris

I had CKR on my left knee 2 years ago. I have had a LARGE swollen knee and a burning sensation in the knee & lower leg ever since, It is more intense at night and starts shortly after I lie down. I have not found a comfortable position for the leg to alleviate this. My F/U visits were all with a PA ... He says swelling is normal after surgery (2 yrs after ?) ... put an ice pack on it an hour before bed time ... (?) Most of the time I can tolerate the discomfort but it does keep me awake several times a month ... Tylenol doesn't help with "burning". NOW ... ( a month ago) a HUGE knot appeared on the outer side of the knee ... there was only minor pain at first ... after a few days I went to the Ortho clinic ... 1st visit = it is a pocket of fluid - given a script for a "Z" pack steroid - return in one week ... 2nd visit, knot was larger and pain was increasing, PA drew out a tube of liquid for a lab test-return in 1 week ... 3rd visit (10 days ago) knot is really huge (some where between a golf ball and a baseball) now and pain now requires Tylenol ... PA says it is a ganglion cyst. I was asked if I want it removed (DUH). My affected knee is twice as big as the other one. DISCUSSION: Is excessive swelling "normal" after two yrs? Is there any correlation between surgery and developing a cyst? Scheduled to have cyst removed in 2 weeks...Thanks