Has anyone had a total knee replacement? My consultant said there are poor outcomes for people with PD
AI Overview
Total knee replacements (TKAs) can be an option for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who have failed conservative treatments, but they can be challenging and have some potential complications:
- Pain relief: TKAs can be effective at reducing pain in the short and long term.
- Functional outcome: TKAs may not improve functional outcomes in the long term.
- Complications: Patients with PD have a higher risk of complications after a TKA, including a higher rate of periprosthetic joint infection and fracture.
- Quality of life: Patients with PD may have a poorer quality of life after a TKA than patients without PD.
- Progression of PD: TKAs can’t prevent PD from progressing.
- Rehabilitation: Patients with PD may have difficulty with rehabilitation due to poor muscular coordination, hamstring rigidity, and inhibition of the extensor mechanism.
Some tips for people with Parkinson’s who have had a TKA include:
- Restarting Parkinson’s medications as soon as a doctor says it’s okay
- Avoiding certain pain pills and nausea drugs
- Starting physical or occupational therapy as soon as possible
- Reminding doctors and nurses that they have Parkinson’s
Best of luck.
Steve2
Good evening mick130 … I did have a knee operation about 5 years ago before I was diagnosed with Atypical Parkinson’s disease.
You have to way up how bad your knee issues are & whether it is worth the risk.
Clearly everyone’s experience may be different depending on how young they are, fit they are, heavy they are etc …
Best of luck.
Steve2
Hi, i had this op in August23 having had my other knee replaced c12 years earlier. It has taken a few months ,longer to get back to normal movement than the first time but i do find that it is vital to maintain an exercise
regime which includes some specific work on the knee to keep the muscles strong. If i don’t do that, it very quickly gets stiff. I had no problems with the medication. R
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Hi there. I had both knees replaced in 2017 (left knee in Feb and right knee four weeks later. Both were total replacements). I was diagnosed with PD in 2015. Was advised that PD was NOT of any particular concern;, but cannot recall if that was just in relation to me and the way PD affected me, or more general.
Best advice I can offer is that if you do opt for knee replacement surgery, do lots of pre-op physio as well as plenty of post-op stuff.- it will make a massive difference to your recovery! I also found hydro-therapy to be very, very helpful.
Good luck
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Do you mind if ask how old you were at the time of the op?
62
There’s some papers saying there are more medical complications adfter surgery in PD. They also say there is satisfactory functional improvement and pain reduction but not as good as in non-PD patients.
The reference to metanalysis is here: The effect of Parkinson’s disease on total knee arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis | Knee Surgery & Related Research | Full Text
It is probably dependent on how bad your PD is and your age. You’d have to balance risks against how bad you knees are. I assume the surgeon recommended against at the moment and they are the experts so I’d suggest following their advice although you can get a second opnion.