Knee Surgery Basics: Surgical Treatment of the Knee
Within the field of Orthopedic Surgery, the most well-known and common surgical procedure is Arthroscopy of the knee. The operation is performed at an outpatient surgical center or major hospital. The patient is usually provided a general anesthetic, and the procedure takes from 30-45 minutes barring complications.
Patients are on crutches for a day or less, need to take oral pain medications for less than a week, return to their normal desk jobs in several days, and are completely recovered in 2-4 weeks (for simple arthroscopic procedures such as loose body removal, chondroplasty, menisectomy, and lateral release).
Knee arthroscopy outcomes vary, but can be predicted based on factors like age and diagnosis. As a rule, if the patient is younger than 55 years with only one problem (like a torn meniscus, a loose body, a small area of joint surface damage) tend to have a higher probability of successful surgical outcomes.
Patients older than 55 years with greater than one disease process (the most common is torn meniscus with chondral damage " commonly known as arthritis) have variable outcomes after knee arthroscopy [improved knee probability in 60% range for multiple disease process knees].
The best surgical outcomes are after Arthroscopic Medial Menisectomy, Arthroscopic Lateral Meniscal repair and Arthroscopic Loose Body removal. The least predictable surgical outcomes are with Arthroscopic Chondroplasty for arthritis and Arthroscopic Lateral Retinacular Release for patellar tracking problems.
A thought on Diagnostic Arthroscopy: Even in today's world of high resolution 3T MRI scans, there is still a responsibility for the surgeon to only look inside the knee for diagnostic purposes.
This is done to assess healing of microfracture, healing of meniscal repair, looking for wearing of Total Knee Replacement, healing of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation, assessment of ligament injury (or a new injury or after surgical reconstruction of knee ligament), or when symptoms of the knee are unexplained even after a physical, Xray, history, and knee MRI.
A complete report on this topic can be found on the website of Phoenix knee doctor, Dr. Stefan Tarlow. - 17269
Patients are on crutches for a day or less, need to take oral pain medications for less than a week, return to their normal desk jobs in several days, and are completely recovered in 2-4 weeks (for simple arthroscopic procedures such as loose body removal, chondroplasty, menisectomy, and lateral release).
Knee arthroscopy outcomes vary, but can be predicted based on factors like age and diagnosis. As a rule, if the patient is younger than 55 years with only one problem (like a torn meniscus, a loose body, a small area of joint surface damage) tend to have a higher probability of successful surgical outcomes.
Patients older than 55 years with greater than one disease process (the most common is torn meniscus with chondral damage " commonly known as arthritis) have variable outcomes after knee arthroscopy [improved knee probability in 60% range for multiple disease process knees].
The best surgical outcomes are after Arthroscopic Medial Menisectomy, Arthroscopic Lateral Meniscal repair and Arthroscopic Loose Body removal. The least predictable surgical outcomes are with Arthroscopic Chondroplasty for arthritis and Arthroscopic Lateral Retinacular Release for patellar tracking problems.
A thought on Diagnostic Arthroscopy: Even in today's world of high resolution 3T MRI scans, there is still a responsibility for the surgeon to only look inside the knee for diagnostic purposes.
This is done to assess healing of microfracture, healing of meniscal repair, looking for wearing of Total Knee Replacement, healing of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation, assessment of ligament injury (or a new injury or after surgical reconstruction of knee ligament), or when symptoms of the knee are unexplained even after a physical, Xray, history, and knee MRI.
A complete report on this topic can be found on the website of Phoenix knee doctor, Dr. Stefan Tarlow. - 17269
About the Author:
Dr. Tarlow is a Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon with more than 20 years experience focusing on knee surgery. After 19 years of practice, he opened his own clinic, Advanced Knee Care, in Phoenix, Arizona. Click here to learn more about Dr. Tarlow, knee surgeons and ACL Surgery in Mesa and Tempe.
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