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Inflammation under/over the kneecap after TKR

Posted by ednliz @ednliz, 1 day ago

I would love to hear from anyone else who has had their legs straightened (knock knees corrected) during TKR.

I had both knees replaced in 2024, right in August and left in November, so I am 1 year+ out. For the first 6 weeks after each surgery, I was doing well then, I developed pain around the kneecap area. I can walk on flat surfaces pretty well but stairs and getting up and down from chairs is pretty painful. My range of motion is good.

My surgeon explained that my kneecaps were out of place from being knock kneed and the kneecaps were moved to the correct position during my surgeries. He said that the pain was from inflammation of the muscles or ligaments that pass under (?) the kneecap and it would take time for it to work out and that the more I use them, the faster the inflammation would go away. I am looking for anyone's experience or advice that can help me get through this.

Some additional information. I was discharged from PT at the end of February. I would like to go back but haven't had enough time to go regularly. My husband now needs full time care and I am constantly driving him to doctor appointments or for tests. We are pursuing every avenue to get him better but it takes up so much of my time. I haven't even been able to get out of the house by myself for a nice walk. I suspect that if I had been able to continue PT, things might be better.

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ednliz | @ednliz | 1 day ago

One more piece of information. My surgeon said in many of these cases they will shave the kneecap to allow more room for the ligaments but mine are so thin, he does not want to do that.

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steveinarizona | @steveinarizona | 14 hours ago

Do you know what type of alignment correction was done? The traditional view was "mechanical alignment" which essentially drew a straight line down the leg. More recently that has been rejected as very few people actually have that type of alignment.
Now surgeons are using one of three types of alignments: kinematic, inverse kinematic and functional. I was severely valgus (knock kneed) on my surgical leg and my surgeon did a functional alignment. Now my alignment on both legs seems the same.
As part of my TKR my surgeon did a patelloplasty.

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steveinarizona | @steveinarizona | 8 hours ago
In reply to @steveinarizona "Do you know what type of alignment correction was done? The traditional view was "mechanical alignment"..." + (show)
Profile picture for steveinarizona @steveinarizona

Do you know what type of alignment correction was done? The traditional view was "mechanical alignment" which essentially drew a straight line down the leg. More recently that has been rejected as very few people actually have that type of alignment.
Now surgeons are using one of three types of alignments: kinematic, inverse kinematic and functional. I was severely valgus (knock kneed) on my surgical leg and my surgeon did a functional alignment. Now my alignment on both legs seems the same.
As part of my TKR my surgeon did a patelloplasty.

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@steveinarizona

You should have received, or have access to, your surgeon's surgery report. I have mine and it is an interesting document.

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