Knee replacement options – Take a stroll through these factors
Continual knee pain and stiffness can be a speed breaker in your life. Disorders like chronic arthritis erode away the cartilage at the knee joint. This makes climbing stairs, raising yourself off a chair, or even something as unchallenging as walking, very painful. Nearly 15 million Indians fall victim to osteoarthritis annually, and nearly 1.5 lakh of them undergo knee replacement surgery to alleviate the pain. But before you make a slapdash decision owing to the unbearable pain, there are a few factors you need to look into. Your list of new knee replacement options should be formulated with care.
How experienced are the doctors?
Knee replacement surgeries are complex. It takes a deft hand and lots of experience to carry out this procedure with perfection. Sometimes complications arise days after the surgery, which can be taken care of by the surgeon. So you need to do a background search of the surgeon, his/her experience, and the reviews of other patients.
Does the hospital provide quality healthcare?
After the surgery, comes the post-operative recovery phase. This is a vital time and if things go wrong, it could impact the success of the surgery. Medications, quality food, post-operation dressing, and check-ups will be administered during this phase. So enquire if the hospital you have chosen has the necessary infrastructure in place.
Learn more about the surgery
Knee surgery isn’t what it used to be. Advances in this field have revolutionized how the surgery is performed, and have ironed out the kinks to give recipients a flawless new knee experience. Does the hospital you have decided upon implement these new technologies? What is the quality of the implant being used? How have people who had undergone this procedure fared?
Are there any complications?
Knee surgeries may trigger a few health complications such as-
- Blood clots
- Nerve injury
- Injury to the blood vessels
- Tissue damage
- Surgery might also chance upon previously unknown damaged tissues that require surgical intervention
So before you weigh your new knee replacement options, analyse the risks, and talk to your doctor or surgeon. If the risks outweigh the gain, your surgery might be delayed.
What about rehabilitation?
Another factor you should keep in mind while deliberating upon your new knee replacement options is rehabilitation. During the 8 weeks post the surgery, you would require robust physiotherapy to restore full mobility to your leg. In this arena too, there have been many technological developments. Therefore, you have to make sure that you have access to a quality physiotherapist post-surgery.
Conclusion
New knee replacement options should be pondered carefully as this surgery could change your life. The best advice regarding this would be to not rush yourself into it. [av_promobox button='yes' label='Consult a doctor on MediBuddy' link='https://www.medibuddy.in/?utm_source=blog_cta&utm_medium=blog' link_target='' color='blue' custom_bg='#f00' custom_font='#ffffff' size='large' icon_select='no' icon='ue800' font='entypo-fontello']When you know quite a bit about knee replacement options, but not completely, it’s always a great idea to go for expert advice. To know more about knee the same, you can talk to a doctor through MediBuddy.[/av_promobox] Sources:
- Deccan Chronicle
- Conformis
