X-ray of knee replacement.
Every year surgeons operate on millions of individuals worldwide to resolve knee pain, cure a disease or treat an injury. Most patients can expect to complete the operation on an out-patient basis, especially those who undergo arthroscopic surgery instead of open-knee surgery. Individuals considering knee surgery should consider that knee pain sometimes persist after surgery.
Knee Surgery Types
There are two main types of knee surgeries-"open" ones and ones performed via arthroscopy. Any time the surgeon replaces part or all of the knee, he must use open surgery. Surgeons typically use arthroscopic surgery for meniscus removal or repair, ACL reconstruction, cartilage or bone removal, synovial tissue removal and articular cartilage removal. "Recovery from knee arthroscopy is much faster than recovery from traditional open knee surgery," explains the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Open Surgery Pain
Surgeons must put in artificial knee replacements in patients whose knee joints have become severely damaged from disease or injury. "The most common condition that results in the need for knee replacement surgery is osteoarthritis, a degenerative, joint disease that affects mostly middle-aged and older adults," according to the Highland Pain Institute. Continual pain after this type of surgery can pertain to reflex sympathetic dystrophy, infection, blood clots, or hematomas (blood pooling around the knee joint). Sometimes the pain is unknown.
Knee Arthroscopy Pain
While knee arthroscopy patients can experience the same time types of post-surgery continual pains as those having undergone knee replacement surgery, knee arthroscopies sometimes fail to eliminate the original pain and have to be redone. "One major risk of arthropscopic surgery to the knee for conditions related to tissue tears is that the pain may not be relieved by the operation; it may even become worse," reports SurgeryEncyclopedia.com. Because continual pain after knee arthroscopic surgery for pain management is so common, surgeons debate whether this type of surgery should be restricted to acute injuries only.
Prevention/Solution
Continual pain due to hematomas often settle in time, but may require drainage in severe cases. Less than one percent of patients experience infections in their knees post-surgery because of pre-operative medication. However, should you have an infection, you must notify your surgeon immediately. "Telltale signs include swelling, fever, and either persistent or new drainage through the incision site," according to Orthopaedic and Sports Service of the Maussins. While Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) happens rarely, healing may take years or become chronic. Certain experts believe anxious patients tend to develop RSD.
Considerations
Surgeries involving the patella--the knee cap--are more prone to develop continual knee pain post-surgery. "[The pain] seem to be dependent upon how carefully the rehabilitation plan is developed and/or adhered to by the patient," reports SurgeryEncyclopedia.com. Keep in mind that artificial knee replacements may loosen, resulting in continual pain. "In the case of an osteotomy, the bone that has been cut may not heal (pseudoarthrosis), or the bone fragments may displace in an undesirable manner," reports Orthopaedic and Sports Service of Maussins.
