This article reviews the benefits, risks, and alternatives to total knee replacement surgery (which is sometimes called total knee arthroplasty).
Knee replacement is a surgical procedure that decreases pain and improves the quality of life in many patients with severe arthritis of the knees. Typically patients undergo this surgery after non-operative treatments have failed to provide relief of arthritic symptoms. Non-operative treatments can include activity modification, anti-inflammatory medications, and knee joint injections.
Surgeons have performed knee replacements for over three decades generally with excellent results; most reports have ten-year success rates in excess of 90 percent.
Broadly speaking there are two types of knee replacements:
Both have long “track records” and good clinical results in this country and in Europe.
Traditional total knee replacement involves a 7-8” incision over the knee, a hospital stay of 3-5 days, and a recovery period (during which the patient walks with a walker or cane) typically lasting from one to three months. The large majority of patients report substantial or complete relief of their arthritic symptoms once they have recovered from a total knee replacement.
Partial knee replacements have been around for decades and offer excellent clinical results, just like total knee replacements. Less invasive techniques are available to insert these smaller implants but only a minority of knee replacement patients (about 10%) are good candidates for this procedure. Minimally-invasive partial knee replacement (mini knee) is the topic of another article on this website.
