Written By: Tavishi Dogra | Updated : August 5, 2022 6:46 PM IST
There is a high probability that the number of revision procedures is expected to rise with the increase in primary knee replacement surgeries. Due to the increased awareness and accessibility of the required facilities, the number of prior knee replacement surgeries has risen drastically. Dr Kilaru Praful, Consultant Orthopedic and Trauma Surgeon, Citizens Specialty Hospital, shares that revision knee replacement surgeries are becoming not so uncommon primarily due to increased conditions like mechanical instability, implant loosening, and infections following primary knee replacement.
When an individual's initial primary knee replacement joint fails to fulfil the primary goal of joint replacement, which entails easy knee movement and stable knee joint for daily living activities, a revision knee replacement surgery may have relative and absolute indications. Revision knee replacement procedure is not as simple as replacing an old device with a new one. Instead, it includes various complex steps, from intraoperative decision-making to zeroing on the cause of failure and correcting that factor with a customized prosthesis or implant for that specific condition. Nevertheless, per estimates, more than 22,000 knee revision operations are performed in the United States each year. Over half of these procedures occur within two years of the initial knee replacement surgery.
Primary knee replacement is a highly successful surgery for patients suffering from constant knee pain caused by knee joint degeneration due to ageing or trauma. But this proven procedure for the painful knee can fail due to a multitude of factors like:
Infections, implant loosening, and mechanical failure usually are the patients who undergo early revision surgeries following primary knee replacements. Conversely, the delayed revision surgeries are knee stiffness, implant loosening, and joint instability.
Revision surgery depends upon the cause of the failure. Following are the scenarios:
The most common symptom of any failed knee replacement is constant pain in the operated knee joint even after 6 to 12 months post-primary knee replacement. Due to this continuous debilitating patient has to reduce his daily knee joint functioning movements and thereby reduce the daily living activities of the sufferer.
Other signs and symptoms include:
To help the patients to restart an active lifestyle and get back on their feet usually, the recovery and rehabilitation process plays a pivotal role. The patient recovers quickly from the surgery with rehabilitation while gaining back confidence. Recovery time and prognosis of the procedure are along the same lines as primary knee replacement, but mainly it depends on the cause of the revision surgery and procedure done for the same. Generally, the patient undergoes physical rehab for six weeks to 8 weeks to become an independent ambulator and regain or restore previous functionality.
