Knee replacement surgery is very common and usually done to reduce pain. Many people, particularly the more active arthritis sufferers, are also concerned about their level of function and how it will impact on their quality of life. For this reason it is good to have an understanding on the effect of surgery on knee range of motion and what you can do to maximize your outcome.
Knee replacement surgery is a significant operation and is only recommended when pain and loss of function are having a noted negative impact on lifestyle. This ensures that the benefits will outweigh the risks of surgery. Modern prostheses are very durable and both surgery times and admission lengths are much lower than previously. Despite this, a replaced knee is not the same as a pristine natural knee, and there are some limitations.
The goal of knee replacement surgery is to provide pain-free, functional movement. Functional in this setting means allowing your knee to do most of what you require in everyday activities. This does not mean that you knee will bend as much as it did when you were 10 years old.
The biggest predictor of post surgery range of motion is pre surgery range of motion. That is, those whose knee was very restricted before the operation should expect to struggle more than someone who had good range pre-operatively. This does not mean that the range will not increase with surgery, just that on average, expectations will be lower.
What can you do about maximizing your result? Work hard and follow the advice of your physical therapist. Increases in range of motion are easiest to achieve in the immediate post-operative period. Unfortunately, this is also the most painful period. From my experience, those that are tough on themselves in the early stages do much better than those who say "it hurts too much now, I'll do the exercises when it stops hurting". This wait and see approach misses the window of opportunity.
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