Revision Total Knee Replacement Surgery

Posted by ladybee @ladybee, May 4, 2020

Has anyone had revision surgery? I have a bruise on the side of my knee that will not go away. It's not purple or red anymore. It's just ugly and and dark. After 3 months

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Hi @ladybee, I have not had revision surgery but I did have a total right knee replacement a year ago. You mentioned you have a bruise on the side of your knee. I recently noticed that the inside of my left knee has a dark bruise and I have faint bruise on my right knee with the TKR. I was thinking might be due to sleeping on my sides which I mostly do. I do use a small pillow off and on but normally a little higher than the knee. The past few days I've tried to keep it directly over the bruise to see if it will go away.

@babette and @jeffkirc may be able to share their experience. Also there is another discussion started by @babette that may be helpful here:

Knee Replacement Failure - Need total reconstruction -- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/knee-replacement-failure-need-total-reconstruction/

@ladybee have you discussed the bruising with your surgeon or care team?

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@johnbishop

Hi @ladybee, I have not had revision surgery but I did have a total right knee replacement a year ago. You mentioned you have a bruise on the side of your knee. I recently noticed that the inside of my left knee has a dark bruise and I have faint bruise on my right knee with the TKR. I was thinking might be due to sleeping on my sides which I mostly do. I do use a small pillow off and on but normally a little higher than the knee. The past few days I've tried to keep it directly over the bruise to see if it will go away.

@babette and @jeffkirc may be able to share their experience. Also there is another discussion started by @babette that may be helpful here:

Knee Replacement Failure - Need total reconstruction -- https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/knee-replacement-failure-need-total-reconstruction/

@ladybee have you discussed the bruising with your surgeon or care team?

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Thank you
Yes i discussed it with Dr. Possible reasons are from surgery stretching of the skin . The bruising is still there and slowly the color is returning to normal , after 6 months.

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ladybee@ladybee
I did have a surgery to take care of a complication from my Total Knee Replacement. It was not actually a revision but it did correct a terrible problem that was the result of my TKR surgery. I had horrible pain after my knee replacement and I saw three orthopedists but after an MRI and x-rays none could figure out the problem. The pain was so bad in my knee that when I pulled myself up from my bed without the use of my knee I put so much stress on my spine that I actually fractured my l3 vertebrae. After 17 months of horrible pain and very sleepless nights I went to a wonderful orthopedist who took my complaints seriously. He ordered an ultrasound hoping that it would give him a clue as to the cause of my awful pain and it did. What I had was a very rare extra bone in my knee called a Fabella bone. Up until about 100 years ago this bone was extinct in humans but in recent years it has been making a comeback. I had the surgery and instantly the awful pain was gone.

If you have a serious issue it is always a good idea to get another opinion.

katrina123

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@katrina123

ladybee@ladybee
I did have a surgery to take care of a complication from my Total Knee Replacement. It was not actually a revision but it did correct a terrible problem that was the result of my TKR surgery. I had horrible pain after my knee replacement and I saw three orthopedists but after an MRI and x-rays none could figure out the problem. The pain was so bad in my knee that when I pulled myself up from my bed without the use of my knee I put so much stress on my spine that I actually fractured my l3 vertebrae. After 17 months of horrible pain and very sleepless nights I went to a wonderful orthopedist who took my complaints seriously. He ordered an ultrasound hoping that it would give him a clue as to the cause of my awful pain and it did. What I had was a very rare extra bone in my knee called a Fabella bone. Up until about 100 years ago this bone was extinct in humans but in recent years it has been making a comeback. I had the surgery and instantly the awful pain was gone.

If you have a serious issue it is always a good idea to get another opinion.

katrina123

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Thanks @katrina123, I had not heard of about that type of pain so looked it up. Really glad you were able to find a doctor who listened and found the problem.

The fabella syndrome - a rare cause of posterolateral knee pain: a review of the literature and two case reports:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987160/

REPLY
@katrina123

ladybee@ladybee
I did have a surgery to take care of a complication from my Total Knee Replacement. It was not actually a revision but it did correct a terrible problem that was the result of my TKR surgery. I had horrible pain after my knee replacement and I saw three orthopedists but after an MRI and x-rays none could figure out the problem. The pain was so bad in my knee that when I pulled myself up from my bed without the use of my knee I put so much stress on my spine that I actually fractured my l3 vertebrae. After 17 months of horrible pain and very sleepless nights I went to a wonderful orthopedist who took my complaints seriously. He ordered an ultrasound hoping that it would give him a clue as to the cause of my awful pain and it did. What I had was a very rare extra bone in my knee called a Fabella bone. Up until about 100 years ago this bone was extinct in humans but in recent years it has been making a comeback. I had the surgery and instantly the awful pain was gone.

If you have a serious issue it is always a good idea to get another opinion.

katrina123

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I’m so glad your 2nd surgeon figured out the source of your pain. It sure seems like the surgeon that did your TKR would have seen the extra bone or it would have been visible in the MRI. That’s crazy!

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@katrina123

ladybee@ladybee
I did have a surgery to take care of a complication from my Total Knee Replacement. It was not actually a revision but it did correct a terrible problem that was the result of my TKR surgery. I had horrible pain after my knee replacement and I saw three orthopedists but after an MRI and x-rays none could figure out the problem. The pain was so bad in my knee that when I pulled myself up from my bed without the use of my knee I put so much stress on my spine that I actually fractured my l3 vertebrae. After 17 months of horrible pain and very sleepless nights I went to a wonderful orthopedist who took my complaints seriously. He ordered an ultrasound hoping that it would give him a clue as to the cause of my awful pain and it did. What I had was a very rare extra bone in my knee called a Fabella bone. Up until about 100 years ago this bone was extinct in humans but in recent years it has been making a comeback. I had the surgery and instantly the awful pain was gone.

If you have a serious issue it is always a good idea to get another opinion.

katrina123

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Thank you for your feed back. I'm feeling much better now. I still have some pain. But bruising is gone. Thanks to antibiotics and massage therapy.

REPLY
@johnbishop

Thanks @katrina123, I had not heard of about that type of pain so looked it up. Really glad you were able to find a doctor who listened and found the problem.

The fabella syndrome - a rare cause of posterolateral knee pain: a review of the literature and two case reports:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3987160/

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Thank you Katrina , this is very helpful. I will see my Dr again.

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@katrina123

ladybee@ladybee
I did have a surgery to take care of a complication from my Total Knee Replacement. It was not actually a revision but it did correct a terrible problem that was the result of my TKR surgery. I had horrible pain after my knee replacement and I saw three orthopedists but after an MRI and x-rays none could figure out the problem. The pain was so bad in my knee that when I pulled myself up from my bed without the use of my knee I put so much stress on my spine that I actually fractured my l3 vertebrae. After 17 months of horrible pain and very sleepless nights I went to a wonderful orthopedist who took my complaints seriously. He ordered an ultrasound hoping that it would give him a clue as to the cause of my awful pain and it did. What I had was a very rare extra bone in my knee called a Fabella bone. Up until about 100 years ago this bone was extinct in humans but in recent years it has been making a comeback. I had the surgery and instantly the awful pain was gone.

If you have a serious issue it is always a good idea to get another opinion.

katrina123

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Hi Katrina,
My husband has had a very similar experience and we are trying to locate a Dr. that will go the extra mile -- Would you be able to share your Drs. name and contact information with me?
Thank you.

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@katrina123

ladybee@ladybee
I did have a surgery to take care of a complication from my Total Knee Replacement. It was not actually a revision but it did correct a terrible problem that was the result of my TKR surgery. I had horrible pain after my knee replacement and I saw three orthopedists but after an MRI and x-rays none could figure out the problem. The pain was so bad in my knee that when I pulled myself up from my bed without the use of my knee I put so much stress on my spine that I actually fractured my l3 vertebrae. After 17 months of horrible pain and very sleepless nights I went to a wonderful orthopedist who took my complaints seriously. He ordered an ultrasound hoping that it would give him a clue as to the cause of my awful pain and it did. What I had was a very rare extra bone in my knee called a Fabella bone. Up until about 100 years ago this bone was extinct in humans but in recent years it has been making a comeback. I had the surgery and instantly the awful pain was gone.

If you have a serious issue it is always a good idea to get another opinion.

katrina123

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WHAT??!!!

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All the more reason to pursue new doctors for second and third opinions!
This is the kind of little known diagnosis you wouldn't likely have found with Dr. Google.

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