Total Knee Replacement

You will be admitted to the hospital one day before surgery and made comfortable. You will be asked to stop most blood thinners 3-5 days prior to your surgery. A thorough investigation of your health status will be done to minimise the risk of complications before surgery, this would include a blood panel, chest X-rays, advanced cardiac imaging like a 2D Echocardiography and if needed by the physician, additional investigations may be done by the doctor to ensure you are fit to undergo a total knee replacement.
If you are diabetic, your sugar levels should be under control to prevent wound related complications. Physiotherapy for knee strengthening will decrease your post-operative rehabilitation time

Once you are admitted, you should be rest assured that you are in good hands. A good nights sleep is what you need before your surgery the next day. You will be kept fasting before surgery for upto 6-8 hours to prevent any anaesthesia related complications. We will keep you hydrated with IV fluids during this period.

You will be wheeled into the Operating suite and transferred to the Operating Table where you will meet our staff and the anaesthetist who will ask you basic questions about your health. You will be repeatedly asked which side you want operated, do not be alarmed by this, this is just to make sure that there is no miscommunication regarding the site of surgery.
The anaesthetist will then explain to you the procedure and then proceed to give you spinal anaesthesia or general anaesthesia depending on your health and fitness.
Once we have confirmed that you cannot feel anything in your knee area, we will start preparing for the surgery

We will clean throughly the leg that is to be operated. We follow gold standard aseptic precautions while preparing your knee for surgery.
Once that is done, we will isolate the knee area and keep all instruments ready that will be required during the procedure.
The actual surgery will last only about 45 minutes however, anaesthesia and meticulous wound closure might take time. Most patients are not in the operating suite for more than 2 hours.

Your knee will be wrapped in a bandage and may have a plastic tube connected to a container that will drain the excess blood that collects in the knee
This drain is usually removed 1-2 days after the surgery. You will usually be discharged from the hospital after 2 – 3 days, depending on your health and overall fitness.

Most patients are encouraged to walk the same or next day after surgery. Initially for 3-6 weeks, you will need some support while walking, usually with the help of a walker, however, you will be sitting on the chair and commode and will be allowed full knee movement from the same or next day of surgery.

Pain prevention is as important to us as it is to the you. We therefore follow the WHO Analgesic Ladder guidelines and provide patients with painkillers to make sure that they are relatively pain free after surgery. We also inject local anaesthetics into the joint during surgery which last for 18-24 hours and help prevent pain in the post-op period.