Q: I'm planning on getting a knee replacement. What does the recovery look like, exactly? What should I expect?
A: Physical therapy. Physical therapy. Physical therapy. Initial pain management is a combination of oral and/or IV narcotics, non-steroidal inflammatory drugs and nerve blocks/local injectable narcotics. Patients are allowed to put their full weight on their knee immediately after a total knee replacement. Most patients begin walking on the same day of surgery. When you are discharged, you will be referred to either outpatient or home health physical therapy. At this stage, you should be able to bend your knee to a 90-degree angle or greater. With continued physical therapy focused on improving knee range of motion and strength, patients normally see significant improvement somewhere between week four and six. After three months of physical therapy, patients can expect to be 90 to 95 percent recovered.
-- Dr. William Hartley, Center for Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics; member, Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society.
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