TKR 11 months of agony

gmalor

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I’m 9 weeks after TKR and have a thick white/yellow pus coming from a small part of my incision and a lot of pain around that area. I’ve been on antibiotics for a week and today I just touched the area and a bunch more came out! What can this be?
 
Welcome to Bonesmart!

I am going to tag @Josephine
our forum administrator and nurse director to address your concerns.

I will also leave you our Recovery Guidelines. Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Knee Recovery: Guidelines

1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now; they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
don't overwork.
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. Here is a week-by-week guide for

The Recovery articles:
The importance of managing pain after a TKR and the pain chart
Swollen and stiff knee: what causes it?

Energy drain for TKRs

Elevation is the key

Ice to control pain and swelling

Heel slides and how to do them properly

Chart representation of TKR recovery

Healing: how long does it take?

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

There are also some cautionary articles here
Myth busting: no pain, no gain
Myth busting: the "window of opportunity" in TKR
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in the majority of BoneSmart’s forums, we ask that each member have only
ONE Recovery Thread.
This policy makes it easier to go back and review the member’s history before providing advice, so please post any updates or questions you have right here in this thread. Thank
 
Have you been to your doctor?
 
I'm thinking a call to the surgeon would be appropriate. Do you have a fever? It is up to you to decide if you should call them during "off" hours or wait until morning.

Let us know what you decide and what you find out.
 
I went to the surgeon last week when I had a small amount of drainage and he started me on antibiotics but after a week on the medication it seems worse. I do see him again tomorrow but I’m kind of freaked out
 
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Hello @gmalor - and :welome:

Please will you tell us the full date of your knee replacement and which knee it is, so we can make a signature for you? Thank you.:flwrysmile:

Your surgeon definitely needs to know about the increased discharge - as soon as possible. You may need a change of antibiotic, or you may need additional treatment.
Did he/she take a swab of the discharge?
 
Gmalor, please keep us all informed as to what you find out. Any infection is bad,so getting this under control is paramount to long term health of your knee n implant.
 
A photo would help, preferably with something like the end of a ballpoint pen in picture so I can compare for size. If it's small, just let the antibiotics do their job. However, if it's the size of something like the end of your thumb, then you need to contact your surgeon.
 
Went to the surgeon today and he is scheduling surgery for next week to go in and clean out the infection. Has anyone had this? What is the recovery for this surgery. I’m scared.

TKR left knee 7/24/18
 
If you go to the list of threads, look at the ones that are labeled “Infection”

@KarriB can tell you about her infection.
 
@gmalor .... I know this is a scary situation for you. Please try not to worry. Infections happen sometimes but you have been vigilant and caught this quickly. That is important. Your surgeon has taken immediate action and that's what you want. It is possible that the cleanout and some follow-on antibiotics will take care of the problem and you'll be on your way. You'll know a lot more about the extent of the infection once your surgeon completes his procedure. We're here to support you every step. You have your entire BoneSmart family in your back pocket and we're always ready with some advice or a bunch of hugs...whichever is needed!
 
Thank you. What really stinks is I have to wait for Workers Comp to approve it. All the while I feel like the infection is growing. Praying it doesn’t take them too long
 
It looks like you caught this quickly which is good and your OS is taking action! I developed an infection and noticed it around week 4 post op. I had a high fever the first day and pus running down my leg the 2nd day. My OS’s office sent me to the hospital where an OS I had never met was waiting for me, he happened to specialize in revisions. Going into surgery my new OS couldn’t tell me if he’d have to take out the implant and put in an antibiotic spacer or if a washout/spacer exchange would do the trick. When I came out of anesthesia I was told he washedout 2x, replaced the spacer and took tissue samples for the infectious disease drs to grow and analyze in order to prescribe the correct antibiotic.

I was put on an oral antibiotic and an IV antibiotic for 6 weeks, but it took 4 weeks before it stopped seeping. After the 6 week period I had a break from antibiotics due to another problem but after that I wasn’t placed on 200 mg of doxycycline.
Since it took so long for mine to stop seeping, I’m not surprised yours has continued. Also, you may not be on the correct antibiotic for the type of infection you have. Be sure to ask your OS about including an infectious disease dr because that’s who should handle the actual infection or antibiotic prescribed.

I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. Hold on, things will work out. :yes:
 
Wow karri that sucks. Did they have to remove your implant, put spacer in and cure infection before they could put new implant in or were they able to save your implant . How are you doing today.
 
My RTKR is great! Just had an x-ray done a few weeks ago and everything looks good. I am still on a maintenance antibiotic of 100mg of doxycycline, but I’m more active than I’ve been in a very long time.
 
@KarriB, will you have to be on a maintenance dose of antibiotic the rest of your life?
 
Saw the surgeon again on Monday and he wasn’t as concerned as the PA was on Friday. He wanted to try something else before another surgery so he stuck sticks of silver nitrate into the hole and glued down some steri strips. I rubbed across it today and a bunch of gunk came out of the top of the steri strips so it doesn’t seem to be working in my eyes. Also the pain around the area just seems to be getting worse to me. I don’t have any red streaks and the area isn’t hot, a little warm but nothing severe. I don’t seem to have a fever although I wake up in the night with my pillow sopping wet. I’m supposed to see him again Monday and I’m not sure if I should call him before that. ‍
 
Do you have an infectious disease doctor? I think you need to search for one. Can you send a photo here so @Josephine can look at it?
 

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