MUA Knee split open during MUA

[Cflower]

My doctor does only hips and knees. I know he told me approximately 10% of his cases have MUA. I would not fault a doctor for the percentages of MUA. It's the patient and the way they heal that dictates whether a MUA is necessary, right? My dr. Was recommended by a friend who knew Dr debakey (the famous heart surgeon in Houston) and he recommended my doctor to them. I also picked this doctor because of the amount of surgeries he does and he's been at this 25 years. He's done an astronauts knee pro ball players joints etc. I have faith in him suggesting a MUA which I'm having Monday. I will be two days short of 7 weeks. Kind of stuck at 90-95. Why do I want to just sit at that for several more weeks. I want to get on with this process. My knee looks normal size and in fact looks smaller than my knotty right knee. Over the 5-6 tears I have gone to at least 4 OS here in The Woodlands. All were ready to do tkr but my OS four years ago said I was not ready. Then after a trip to France in march (took a toll on both knees) I went back to him and he said now you are ready and both knees are bone on bone with multiple spurs. He said I knew when you left back then you would be back in about four years. So, when he suggested the MUA I felt confident he knew what he was doing. Of course I will still be nervous.

Chris, good luck with your knee. --sherry

 

[RestAssured]

I think everyone has a different perception of when an MUA is right for them. If they trust their doctor, and think that this is the best course of action then ok. I think 5 weeks is early but I am not in your shoes. It is your knee and you have to decide what's best for you.

 

[Josephine]

I understand the math part. I was asking if that is all he/she does.

A surgeon who is a specialist knee surgeon doesn't do less that that, otherwise he is what my surgeon calls "a hobbyist"! Actually a doctor's year (in the UK, anyway) is about 42 weeks - 6 weeks annual leave and 2 weeks study leave per year. He works in sessions of 3½ hours with a full day equating to 2 sessions. They can do 3 primary TKRS per session and probably 7 (including 1 or 2 bilaterals) in a full day. UK surgeons operate 3 sessions per week which might include an all day session. There are also extra all day sessions to be done at the weekends and surgeons get to pick one weekend day a month each. In their 'time off' they also do private work outside the NHS hospitals! This means a dedicated TKR surgeon can accrue between 400 and 500 cases per year. But my surgeon, for instance, also does other knee surgery as well as replacements so his tally is probably more like 300-350 per year. But he does nothing at all but knees.

 

[MapMaker53]

Seems to me MUAs are becoming a fairly common practice to increase ROM when steady improvement reaches a stand still early on. I hit a wall at 75 degrees ROM and my PT wasn't getting any further improvement, so my OS at HSS did a bilateral MUA at about 10 weeks which got me over that hurdle. I have to admit, contributing to that mutual decision was a bit of impatience on my part to get back into life.