Introduction
There are many different reasons why a person needs to have surgery replacement of the knee. Knees are a weight bearing joint and many different things can go wrong with them. Two of the biggest things are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Both of these happen over time and if you have had therapy, shots, braces, weight loss and a walking cane and you still have no relief from pain or still are having trouble with your knee then it could be time for you to consider talking to your doctor about a knee replacement. Most surgeons will not consider doing a knee replacement until after you are age 55, unless it is seriously affecting your way of life. This is because when you are still young and active you can cause the knee replacement to wear out and need another one.
History
There is not much history to be found on the first knee transplants and how they were performed. The first knee surgery replacement was done by Leslie Gordon Percival Shiers and his original papers were published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in 1954. He refused to patent his idea and encouraged other surgeons to improve on his idea. Attempts were made in 1960 after the first hip replacement surgeries were performed, but they did not last well. To date improvements are being done to knee replacements and are improving every year.
Features
Of course knee surgery replacement is not without risk and complications. It is considered a major surgery, even though it should only last a little over two hours. Serious complications are at a minimal but still do happen. After your surgery, you will be in the hospital for a couple of days and usually on the second say is when the physical therapist will be in to see you. After getting out of the hospital, doctors will encourage you to move your toes and ankle as much as possible to avoid blood clots. You could also be given a compression hose to wear to help the blood flow properly. To avoid infection, the doctor will teach you how to keep your wound clean. The most important thing that you can do and make the knee surgery replacement not as bad is take your pain pills as they are scheduled. Many people do not take them at the interval that is on the bottle and this can cause you to have severe pain until your next dose kicks in.
Tips and comments
The best advice that you can listen to is what your doctor tells you. When you have your knee surgery replacement listening to what you are told will help you the most. Do not think that you will have your knee replaced and go back to your normal activities within the next two weeks. It can take six weeks or longer to recover and feel well enough to go back to work. It can take over a year before you feel really good and notice that your knee is not causing you as much pain. Physical therapy will play a big part in how your recovery is going. By not following through with physical therapy, you are doing a disservice to yourself.
