Does anyone have a hinged knee replacement?

My TKR wasn’t right from the beginning after 4 weeks they did knee manipulation,they showed me a picture of the knee during this procedure. It showed a significant increase in ROM .After intensive therapy it went right back to where it was before the procedure.It’s been over five years since the surgery and the ROM and pain have gotten much worse.The doctor blamed this on scar tissue.At this point I could not walk up or especially down the stairs without a railing and one step at a time.After a couple falls because of the limited ROM I decided to look into revision surgery.I chose to go with the doctor that replaced my hip because he did an excellent job,My first appointment with him he asked me if I was sure I wanted this procedure done.He explained there were no guarantees on the outcome.But he said we can go in clean up the scar tissue maybe put in a smaller spacer and leave the joint a little lose to allow for scar tissue. On the day of the surgery before going into the operating room he came and asked me if I was active I said yes I was surprised that he would be asking me this now right before surgery.Then he said I’m going to do a hinge swivel joint replacement.I had never heard of that before it was never mentioned in our discussions.If I would of known that it was a last resort radical procedure I probably would’ve had it done . So my advice is to make sure your doctor has done this procedure multiple times and you know the results of his operations.You know what surgical procedures he is going to do. And you did your homework if you decide to have a hinge swivel replacement.The in home therapist that came to my house a few days after the surgery never even heard of that type of replacement.

first, as Paul Newman said, "what we have here is a failure to communicate". I find it shocking that the surgeon would make such a decision without discussing it with the patient. IMHO that would have been a good reason to hobble out the door.

I have a bunch of criteria for a hip/knee replacement surgeon. But the most important of them all is extensive experience doing the exact same procedure as he proposes to do on me. At least a hundred times. You are, IMO, 100% correct in that desire.

Please do tell us how you are doing.

@steveinarizona

It was Strother Martin in Cool Hand Luke.

I spoke with my PT prior to my second revision surgery two weeks ago. I wanted his opinion on recovery and rehab from hinged knee implants as this was a possiblity during my upcoming surgery.
He told me that in 25 years as a PT and working with thousands of patients post TKR he had never had one with a hinged implant or even knew what they were. That got my attention.

My surgeon replaced the femoral component only and increased the insert size and constraint. The jury is out on whether this fixes the mid flexion instability causing pain while walking and inability to go up and especially down stairs.

After the disaster of my original TKR I have spent a lot of time attempting to learn what questions to ask my Ortho surgeon without overwhelming him with 'internet diagnostics'.

@dbduffer My brother in-law has been a Physical Therapist (PT) for about 35 years and he handles a lot of the Hospital for Special Surgery's TKR patients and he's never seen anyone receive a hinged knee replacement of any kind. One of my wife's best friends just retired after 40 years of being a PT and she never saw one either. Both knew what one was, but neither saw one used. So, they can't be used very often. Everything that I've read about them says "Run Forest Run!"