2nd TKR Pain 24/7 plus foot pain

Posted by moprea @moprea, Aug 20 11:47am

Four years ago I had my 1st knee replacement and from get go something did not feel right it felt like my implant was moving in my leg. 6 Month later I had a revision Drs confirmed my glue had not bonded to bone. For second replacement Dr replaced the bottom piece only with a much longer stem that goes down my calf. I feel the implant move and toggle inside my leg and now have 24/7 foot pain as well. I live in Indiana/ Chicago and have seen Dr's all over these two states as well as MT Sanai in Baltimore and Dr in Texas who found I am allergic to 11/15 metals in my knee. No one wants to take the implant out afraid I will have too much bone loss and no one seems to know what to replace with. Anyone else have similar experience? Any suggestions for alternatives to metals? I have had times where pain so bad I thought about amputation, but I have learned that may not get rid of the pain. I could still have fantom pain. In November I had an ablation done at Shirley Ryan in Chicago and it did help my pain. The bad thing your nerves do grow back and it was $7000 out of pocket. I just saw my pain management Dr at Shirley Ryan and she wants me to see a surgeon again as she sees areas that may be loose. I do not do pain meds I am very allergic to them as well. Any suggestions. Any Dr's who understand metal allergies etc? thank you!

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mabfp3 | @mabfp3 | Aug 21 7:09pm

Hello moprea,
I had TKR in 2020 and my knee has never felt the same. I had a test recently (like a CT Scan) to see if there were any loose parts and the test came back fine. I think that it is probably scar tissue and I just have to live with it. My other knee is bone on bone and painful but I will never put myself through another knee replacement again! On your concerns about a metal allergy……..My surgeon would not do the surgery unless the patient is tested for a metal allergy. I told his office that I didn’t think I had one but that when I was young, I could not wear cheap pierced earrings or my ears would swell. He sent me for the testing and a nickel allergy came out very high, along with a few other metals. There was no allergy to the bone cement. He told me that the replacement that he used due to the nickel allergy was called “Smith and Nephew”. There are allergist drs who just test for metal. I ended up driving 30 miles out of Boston MA to get this testing done. You might want to google that type of allergist and see what comes up. I am so sorry for all that you are going through. I have been thinking of that nerve ablation but would only do it if it was covered by insurance. Wishing you all the best in finding answers. MaryAnn from Boston

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