Minimally invasive knee replacement is performed through a shorter incision—typically 4 to 6 inches versus 8 to 10 inches for traditional knee replacement. A smaller incision allows for less tissue disturbance. In addition to a shorter incision, the technique used to open the knee is less invasive.
Minimally Invasive Surgery Technique: It is used when the muscles around the joints are NOT cut. The surgery is painless, quick recovery as the patients begin to walk within 3-6 hours after the surgery. This approach doesn't incite the inflammation as much as the conventional technique.
Pifer specializes in minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery. This surgical approach involves making multiple small incisions to view and repair the knee. Arthroscopic surgery has many advantages, including a lower complication rate, less damage to surrounding tissue, and faster recovery.
Knee arthroscopy recovery time
An advantage of knee arthroscopy is the minimal invasive day surgery. This means there's a shorter recovery time and reduced risk of complications. The recovery time is typically around 6 weeks.
The most common knee surgeries involve arthroscopy — a surgical technique used to repair many different types of knee problems — or knee replacement. Arthroscopy is a type of keyhole surgery used to diagnose and treat a wide range of knee problems.
There are several cartilage-regeneration techniques that you may consider and discuss with an orthopaedic surgeon. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), for example, involves taking a sample of your cartilage cells, growing them in a lab and then surgically replanting them in your knee.
Doctors sometimes recommend that people under age 60 wait to undergo a knee replacement, because these artificial joints typically last only about 15 to 20 years. If someone younger gets the procedure, the joint will likely need to be replaced again down the line.
With an ACL tear, in young people or active older adults, surgical repair is typically necessary after an ACL tear. The biggest issue with a surgical repair is that it takes about 9 months to rehabilitate afterwards. Most people would agree that the ACL ligaments is the worst ligament to tear in the knee.
TKA patients begin rehabilitation during the seven-day bedrest period, with the goals of decreasing swelling, increasing ROM, promoting normal leg control and promoting normal gait with an assistive device.
In most cases, patients can walk without help from assistive devices like crutches or a walker within six weeks after knee replacement surgery. That said, physical therapy continues after this time to help your knee and the surrounding muscles grow stronger and more flexible.
Rehabilitative medicine and exercise programs can stretch and strengthen the muscles and soft tissues of your knee joint to improve flexibility and joint support. Changing the way you perform daily activities may also help in alleviating knee pain through limiting excessive strain on your knee.
Minimally invasive knee replacement is performed through a shorter incision—typically 4 to 6 inches versus 8 to 10 inches for traditional knee replacement. A smaller incision allows for less tissue disturbance. In addition to a shorter incision, the technique used to open the knee is less invasive.
Genicular nerve radiofrequency ablation is a minimally invasive treatment for knee pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee, and can significantly reduce pain, especially for adults who are 50 and older.
Most patients can walk on their own roughly four to eight weeks after knee replacement.
Non-Invasive Treatments
Ice and over-the-counter pain medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help. Sometimes physical therapy or a guided exercise program can provide bone-on-bone knee pain relief by strengthening the muscles that support the knee, particularly the quadriceps.
Most people can resume daily activities with reduced pain approximately three to six weeks after surgery. Full recovery can take anywhere from four months to a year.
Most patients, even if they live alone, can safely go directly home from the hospital after hip or knee replacement surgery, according to a recent study.
You will not be awake during surgery. Spinal anesthesia provides surgical anesthesia and you will be given sedatives to help you relax and put you in a light sleep. The level of your sleepiness can be adjusted and you can be easily awakened, if needed. In other words, you will be sleepy but not completely out.
The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the body. It connects your calf muscles to your heel bone and is used when you walk, run, and jump. Although the Achilles tendon can withstand great stresses from running and jumping, it is vulnerable to injury.
A fracture occurs when one or more of the bones in the knee are broken. Due to the impact a fracture can have on your life, this type of injury is often considered to be a serious injury. When the patella (kneecap) dislocates or fractures, it can cause long lasting or permanent problems.
You may NOT be a good candidate if:
Your knee symptoms are not related to joint disease. Your weight is too much for the artificial joint to support. You have fragile skin or poor skin coverage over your knee. You have a severe illness or infection.
Age alone is no bar to surgery. Older and younger people benefit equally, as long as they are generally healthy to start. However, people under 60 are encouraged to delay total knee replacement if they can.
There is a range of accepted weight ranges, but the current standard is that anyone obese (greater than 100 pounds over ideal weight or a BMI of roughly 40-45) should not consider joint replacement.