One option for patients with jobs that require heavy physical work (construction workers, miners etc.) would be stabilizing the joint with a surgery. However if the patient has problem in both knees this procedure is not recommended. Since it reduces the joint movement significantly, this procedure is not being used a lot any more.

Physical Therapy: PT develops the muscles around the knee and helps reducing the pain. However it doesn’t fix the damaged joint so the benefits are temporarily.

Arthroscopic Joint Cleaning: The process of cleaning the joint from loose tissues in the joint. This procedure doesn’t cure osteoarthritis permanently.

Most common patients are people between 50 – 80 years of age who have advanced osteoarthritis. After a physical examination the doctor would decide on the treatment method depending on how advanced the problem is. There are examples of successful surgeries from 16 to 90 years old patients.

There are two kinds of knee replacement surgeries. The surgeon would decide on the procedure depending on the case.

In Total Knee Replacement, both inside and outside surfaces of the joint are changed with a prosthesis.

In Unicondylar Knee Replacement, only the surface inside or outside of the joint gets changed. This process aims to gain time before having the Total Knee Replacement surgery. However the patient must be young, not overweight and deformation of the joint should be on a single side for this treatment.

The patient gets checked with blood and urine tests to see if he/she is suitable for surgery. If the results are good and there is no infection in the body, the patient can go under a surgical procedure.

If the patient is using any blood diluent there would be a switch in the medicine between 10 to 5 days before the surgery. Patients can get back to their original medicine after a few days.

Standard operating rooms are unsuitable for prothesis surgeries. There should be a special ventilation system to preserve the proper air conditions of the operating room.

Patients need to stay at the hospital for the first 5-7 days. On the second day, the patient starts short walks and basic in bed exercises with the supervision of the doctor. Once patients can get up on their own and bend their knees they can leave the hospital. When leaving, the patient gets prescribed medicines to use for 30 days. Patients should strictly listen the doctors advices and be careful at all times until the healing process is completed.

The stitches will be removed in approximately 15 days, followed by a few weeks of physical theaphy. After knee replacement most of the patients are cured from the pain fast and completely. Daily activities such as walking, climbing the stairs etc. can be done easily. Patients should not participate in heavy physical activities and sports after the surgery.

A total knee replacement surgery will serve the patient successfully for about 20-25 years. There are cases where the prosthesis served the patient with no problem for even longer years. The expected life of the implant is determined by the techniques applied by the surgeon, the quality of the prosthesis, the level of activity of the patient, the quality of the bone and the weight of the patient.

Choosing an expert surgeon specialized on these surgeries is very important to prevent possible complications and to have a healthy implant.

Possible complications that may occur during a prosthesis surgery are damages on blood vessels or nerves, fractures and cracks on the bone.

After the surgery, there are some possible early and late complications.

Possible early complications are infection of the wound and vein obliteration in the leg.

Possible late complications are pain due to loosening of the prosthesis.

The prosthesis in the knee can be vulnerable to possible infections. To be protected, patients should use certain antibiotics before any other surgical procedures, including basic procedures like having a tooth pulled. Doctors will inform the patients about the medicines in these cases.