Bilateral TKR and away I go.....

[vinny]

I agree Celle they are not the same but all OS seem to mention the size and location of the incision as a selling point in addition to recovery by not cutting the quad...not sure a knee can be replaced by not touching the quad....in any case I am meeting my OS tomorrow and will confirm what was done.....I also note that some people have staples whereas my incision was glued....surgical preference I guess......

 

[vinny]

According to the Cleveland Clinic 70 to 80% of their knee replacements are the traditional procedure with minimally invasive the rest...seems one of the selling points is the 3 to 5 incision to the side of the patella .....hard to do the replacement without some movement or cutting the quad .....seeing my OS tomorrow and will get his view..I would doubts that I could have possibly had a better faster recovery....

 

[Poppet]

I am from Australia and know a significant number of OS's and the majority spend time overseas e.g. the US and UK to gain experience and training.

 

[vinny]

Hi Poppet my OS in Bermuda was educated in the UK and interned in London and Sydney Australia at the Royal North Shore Hospital and North Shore Orthopedic and Sports Medicine.....we have only a few OS due to our size and I am lucky to have a great one ....

 

[kneeper]

I massaged the area just above the knee around the end of the incision as it felt like a knot below the skin and coupled with ice it helped a great deal......

Yep that was my spot as well.

 

[Poppet]

It is very important to feel comfortable with your surgeon Vinny. Certainly if he has trained at the RNS & SM he has had exposure to well known and well thought of surgeons in Australia. We have had several Aussie hippies who have had THR's performed by surgeons from that practice. As you say, there would be limited specialist in your location, so not much choice. I look forward to reading your update after seeing him.

 

[Poppet]

Hi @vinny - to prevent the derailing of @oldrugbyprop thread, may I suggest that you discuss your recovery on your own recovery thread please - many thanks

 

[oldrugbyprop]

Wasn't a problem puppet this all stemmed from discussions on quad muscle pain and the possible causes.

Cheers Harry

 

[kneeper]

We just don't like things to get too far afield or it's easy to forget whose recovery you're talking about where.

 

[oldrugbyprop]

Question about infection. So yesterday I pulled what I thought was a hair out of the scar on my right knee. looks like it was a stitch. Bled a bit cleaned it up and put polysporin on it covered it with a Band aid. This morning I noticed it was red, some poison came out (small amount) then clear fluid with some blood, typical knee fluid. So I made an appointment with an after hours clinic thos evening and got a prescription for Cephalex 500mg and fuciden topical to put on the wound twice a day. the antibiotic I take every six hours. I may of over reacted as my physio person mentioned that at four weeks out infection in the bone would be highly unlikely and he thought it looked like a surface infection. And it is more light pink than a bright red no pus discharge or smell. Any thoughts on what to watch for would be appreciated. Oh I'm meeting my surgeon Tuesday and I'll review it with him as well.

Thanks.

 

[vinny]

I had exactly the same thing Harry at the bottom of my incision onboth legs...it looked like a suture sticking out and when I pushed it some pinkish fluid and a little blood came out....I put a little peroxide on it and a band aid and two days later a little scab left...I don't think its anything

 

[oldrugbyprop]

Your probably right Vinny I'm inclined to use the sledge hammer approach on it. Perfect timing for it too. slept great the last few nights finally, and my quads aren't screaming anymore. I'll see how this works out.

 

[vinny]

Onward and upward Harry the corner has been turned....

 

[metalheart]

I have not done an exhaustive search about TKR approaches, but what I have found suggests that the medial parapatellar approach is the most common technique used. And, what can find suggests that the quads are cut in this approach. Three of the four docs I consulted with use that approach and the fourth was a minimally invasive doc. Just a small point and always interesting to know the specifics of what was cut or not.

 

[vinny]

My OS indicated that he did NOT cut the quad muscle but did slice and separate the quad tendon vertically to spread the tendon in order to flip the patella over...he then repaired the tendon ....whatever technique he used I ended with the best possible result I could hope for no doubt as a result of his efforts...

Vinny

 

[metalheart]

Thanks Vinny, I need to ask my Doc once more about this, mostly just a curiosity issue. I think there are variations of the medial parapatellar approach (described in the Bonesmart library) that do not cut the quad MUSCLE and maybe that is where my confusion is. And, whatever approached was used with you should be bottled for distribution!

 

[oldrugbyprop]

Well the best part of any of it is that if they cut the quad which in my case they did, entering the fifth week it seems to have turned the corner. All the sharp pain fades and its just tight. but more like when I'd do a long run or when I used to lift weights and had particularly abused my legs. I expect stretching will work well.

 

[oldrugbyprop]

On another topic, my knee was showing more redness today and still weeping milky poison when I'd clean it. This resulted in my wife and I going to the emergency department after talking to the hospitals Ortho unit. Well Friday night at the emergency is quite fun. We waited for a few hours and when I got to see the doctor. She passed me to the Ortho surgeon on call. He checked me over and decided to pull fluid out of my right knee to see if there was infection or not. He did it twice to confirm and found no infection in the samples. He feels I have a surface infection and it should clear. He then had them run a course of antibiotics through me and kept me on th oral antibiotics. So off to see my OS on Tuesday unless this turned bad. So that's my latest news.

 

[Maggie94]

Hey Harry - sledgehammers and wallnuts are fine when it comes to questions about possible infections in implanted bits - the last thing you want is to provide a nice warm home for little bugs. Having said that hydrogen peroxide is a great warfare agent against surface stuff - good call @vinny

Its the middle of a very hot afternoon (arvo as we say in Australia) = you know its hot when you hang your cotton bed sheets on the line in full sun and half an hour later they are dry, folded and back in the linen cupboard - I have a note to myself to stack up on sodas and other drinks as part of my pre op prep.... no not wine or beerI am going to be a good girl - first time for everything!!

Harry as Vincent says it sounds like you have turned a corner... I was speaking to a BTKR woman over here - her comment was that the first 2 weeks are hard - you question why you put yourself thru this, at 4 weeks you really begin to feel better at 8 you know without a doubt you have done the right thing and it just improves from there.

I asked her about squatting (delicate way of taking a rest stop behind a tree on the golf course) - I can do this at all... she is a medical lecturer who lectures in SE Asia - her comment was she has no problem using the squat toilets over there so I am so much encouraged - well there is, a confession: my goal is to be able to have a quiet contemplative pee behind a tree - LOL

Hope this finds you smiling - cheers Maggie x

 

[Maggie94]

Must have been an Irish OS in the ER - 2 samples to be sure, to be sure;)