What caused my knee to buckle?

I had a TKR 1.5 years ago. About two months ago that knee started feeling very stiff when bending. I’ve had numbness on the outside since the surgery; the knee feels weak when I walk necessitating the need for walking sticks if walking any distance. I’m going back to surgeon this week about stiffness but she denies that knee weakness was caused by surgery. I suggest you see your surgeon again.

"Also , do any of you” feel” your TKR a few years after the procedure or does your knee feel like it did before the replacement but without the pain? "

@td29 , I have no pain, and had good fast healing on both my knees, now 5 years on the first, soon 4 on the other one. But they do not feel like natural bone knees and never will. If you fall on them or bang into something, or even kneel hard without a cushion, you feel like the knee has been hit with a lead pipe. You have to be careful not to accidentally twist them, and I do this occasionally just flipping over in bed, and then the knee may be a little sore for a few days or even a couple weeks. This is just muscle/tendon damage, and not the implant itself. But if the pain is intense, of course see a doctor and get x-rays.

I am 10 months post op with a TKR. I have been able to walk a couple miles at a time but my knee has gotten progressivly weaker and painful. This past week, 3 times I had a sharp shootin pain and my knee gave out on me. It is very sore on the lower outside. Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi @afladland, you may notice I moved your discussion and combined it with one titled: What caused my knee to buckle? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/what-caused-my-knee-to-buckle/. I did this so you could meet @td29 who posted their similar experience as well. @td29, how are you doing now that a little time has passed? Are you still experiencing the buckling feeling?

@afladland, have you discussed this recent development with your surgeon? You mentioned you are getting progressively weaker, was your initial rehab more successful and did it have gains instead the recent losses?

I do agree that kneeling just feels....... weird. Not painful, but the knee isn't moving as it did when healthy.

That said, I've been ecstatic with the results of the TKRs (March 2022, July 2022). I'm a 68 y/o male and have osteoarthritis (hereditary). I also used to run a lot of marathons, but it was the arthritis that did me in. Joint replacement took away the pain and I'm in the gym almost everyday. No impact sports - so no more running. But everything else is fine and I'm in great shape. I do rowing for cardio.

afladland - are you doing exercises to strengthen your quads, hamstrings, core, and hips? Just working on quads and hamstrings should help strengthen the big muscles around the knee. I suggest you find a trainer or pt to work with and see what specific exercises might help you.

All the best!

I saw my ortho last Monday. It seems that sitting in my husband’s new sports car is what caused the problems with my knee. He said that with TKR you cannot “squat” that low. I will be going back to PT for awhile. Unfortunately, I cannot enjoy his car with him so we will be selling it within a year.
Thank you so much for asking and your concern as it is so appreciated!

I have never stopped my exercises because it just has never felt like it was good enough to quit. I went back to my surgeon and he took xrays and said everything was fine. I asked why I was having so much pain and stiffness and he basically said I may just be in that percentage of people that will just have pain. I'm not ok with that answer but not sure where to go from here. I called another Dr for a 2nd opinion and after seeing my xray his nurse called me and said he wasn't willing to do a second opinion. Are there things that can be wrong that wouldn't show on an xray?

@afladland I am sorry you are still having so much pain and stiffness. CT scans and MRI's are used to help diagnose soft tissue injuries or issues that traditional x-rays mostly dealing with bones might not show. Maybe something about your healing process did not go right even if the implant sits correctly. I wonder why the doctor did not want to give a 2nd opinion. If nothing was wrong, he could have said that was his opinion. If it were me in constant pain, I would keep trying with a 3rd ortho specialist or at least get referrals to a pain management doctor and see if they can review your case and figure out what's going on. How frustrating for you.

It's been a year and three quarters with my revision and I still have stiffness and soreness. But mostly, the regular tkr which was done about 8 months ago has developed fluid pockets which are causing a lot of discomfort. They are not getting better and didn't even develop until about 5 months into the healing process. They seem to be getting worse. I saw my doc and he said they don't like to withdraw fluid with needle due to concerns about infection. I don't know if or when it will go away. Certainly, looking at these comments it seems that this surgery causes a LOT of problems. I wish I'd known. Good luck and hope it gets better for you and all on this thread.