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Hello! And welcome to One Care Medical Center, an international orthopedic hospital in Coimbatore. My name is Dr. Salam and I am a full time practicing orthopedic surgeon in Coimbatore.
In this blog post, we are going to discuss briefly about undergoing a bilateral knee replacement procedure.
So here is the thing, arthritis is a painful inflammation of the joints. The truth is the disease process can affect 1 joint or sometimes multiple joints throughout the body. In some instances, the damaging effects may be so severe that knee replacement may be the only option forward.
During a typical knee replacement surgery, your orthopedic consultant will replace the broken parts of your knee joint with metallic implants. The implants usually restore lost function to the knee. A knee replacement is usually recommended and done to people in their 60’s, and this is because young people tend to wear out their joints much earlier.
A bilateral knee replacement can be done in patients if there is severe arthritis and is recommended specifically to patients who are…
A. Fit physically
B. Who are ready to undergo rehabilitation regularly post the procedure
There are two types of double knee replacement. In one type, on the same day, both knees are replaced. In another type, one is replaced followed by another on a different day.
The advantage of simultaneous bilateral knee replacement is that, 2 operative procedures are not strictly required and that both procedures can be done in one sitting. However, a caveat is that recovery time are usually longer for such simultaneous knee replacement procedures.
Moreover, this type of surgery is not recommended for patients with severe lung or heart disease as such!
In a staged bilateral knee replacement, two procedures are done couple of months apart. The advantage, of course, is that overall operative times are less and furthermore, one knee can be allowed to recover before proceeding to operate on the next knee.
But the main pitfall is that your overall rehabilitation time with your orthopedic surgeon definitely goes up!. There definitely will be a delay in getting you back to work.
With staged knee replacement you will be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days as compared to roughly 2 weeks for double replacement procedure. Pain medications and anti-inflammatory medications will be given to reduce overall pain and discomfort.
Your physical therapy will usually begin a couple of hours immediately post the surgery. This is done to speed up your recovery and ensure you get back on your feet. Moreover, physical therapy will usually continue for about 8 to 12 weeks at minimum to speed up movements
A variety of exercises are given, ranging from knee strenghtening exercises to exercises to improve flexibility. Your complete recovery should be done by 12 months post which you will be able to resume all your normal activities.
What more important to understand is that, your age and overall health will also affect your recovery times.
Taking care of your general health along with ensuring a proper diet, avoiding unnessary weight gain often helps tremendously in recovery.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short post on bilateral knee replacement procedures. Keep watching this space for more!. Do kindly share this article with all your freinds and loved ones
