Knee Infection Looks like I'm in the lucky 1%-

[PegGar16]

Hope everything goes well for you today.

 

[PegGar16]

Hope everything went well!

 

[Bikesouth]

Hope everything went well!

Surgery was at 5pm yesterday & I am home already. Replaced spacer & it did not have biofilm best Doc could tell.
Cut 1/2" of synovial tissue off the patella area. It was 3/4 thick. Trimmed scar tissue laterally & medial. Soaked the knee for one hour in antiseptic then did the irrigation.

May not have to get a picc line once surgeon communicates with ID doc. According to surgeon he only saw evidence of infection in soft tissues.

 

[KarriB]

Did he take tissue for a culture?

 

[PegGar16]

That would be great! Sounds like they did quite a bit of cleanup, 3/4 thick...wow. Hopefully movement should be a little better. Will keep my fingers crossed.

 

[sistersinhim]

Good luck with the infection results.

 

[Bikesouth]

Did he take tissue for a culture?

I assume he sent samples to pathology but he did not specifically say so. He did take swabs.

 

[newlybionic]

I've been missing in action for a while. I hope that you do well after your surgery. You've been through a lot. I've been busy fighting off a MRSA infection in my right knee. I've been 'enjoying' my PICC line for 6 weeks now.

 

[KarriB]

Hopefully those swabs will grow and they'll know for sure what it is and how to treat it. It took 3-4 days to grow my cultures. But in the meanwhile I was on a broad IV antibiotic.

 

[Celle]

It sounds as if the surgery went well. I hope the swab cultures show no infection.

Treat your knee as if it has just had a new replacement - lots of rest, ice and elevation, and take your pain medications on schedule. I'll give you the post-op reading list again, as a refresher.

Knee Recovery: The 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

the BoneSmart view on exercise
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for TKRs


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 a 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 history before providing advice.

 

[lpolovchik]

Good luck


Linda

 

[Bikesouth]

Improving, stiff & sore but pain level is about 3 until the end of the day. Incision is inhibiting flexion. Did heel slides yesterday & bled a bit. Lovenox is probably a contributing factor.

Forgot to put in my post op report that OS packed with Vanco beads. So between Rifampin, Doxycycline & Vancomycin the bacteria should be knocked out.

ID follow up on the 23rd.

Thanks for all the support. I may escape this with minimum treatment protocols.

 

[KarriB]

Looks like you're on the same protocol as @newlybionc and me. Doxycycline didn't start until after the rifampin and IV Vanco. I didn't have the Vanco beads though.

 

[Bikesouth]

Looks like you're on the same protocol as @newlybionc and me. Doxycycline didn't start until after the rifampin and IV Vanco. I didn't have the Vanco beads though.

Staph captis is known to build resistance to Rifampin alone but combined with a complimentary antibiotic can be effective.

 

[newlybionic]

I couldn't deal with the rifampin at all. My ID doctor told me they use it to help the Vanco work better but whatever help it might have been that way the side effects almost put me back into the hospital where they would have stopped it anyway. I start Doxy Tuesday after my 6 weeks of IV Vanco is over.

I had the 'beads' implanted too. My incision and knee have some purplish discoloration to it due to what my OS said was the beads breaking down and the trauma of opening up the same incision from a few weeks before. I just wanted you to know about the possible color change. I thought it looked terrible but the OS thought it looked great!

I hope all goes well from here on out for you.

 

[Bikesouth]

@newlybionic I am not fond of Rifampin either. The only way I can take it is 2 hours after a meal then 1 hour after I take it a snack of crackers or granola bar. It makes my body ache & flu syndrome is constant. But I will endure to not have a revision. TKA's are great on average but when you have problems it can be overwhelming.

My incision is 12" long with staples on top of or adjacent to 5 other incisions so my leg is ugly. Two rounds of wound vac left permanent discolorations. A number of dark spots scattered around. Thank you for letting me know the beads will leave another reminder of this misery LOL.

I see what time you posted & unless someone has gone thru an extended period of sleeplessness due to knee issues they will never understand. I am going on the 20th month of poor sleep. I average 3-5 hours of cumulative sleep each night. Sometimes less, the most I have gotten is 6 with over medicating. But we must push on & hope one day it gets better.

 

[PegGar16]

As my plastic surgeon tells me "function before looks". We don't want to talk about ugly knees At the 5th week mark I had to stop taking the Rifampin, it was giving me a rash. And I am finally getting a decent night's sleep. Things will get better!

 

[newlybionic]

I definitely dont want to go through the two stage revision should this infection not be eradicated by the antibiotics. I guess I'm fortunate in that I only have the one incision line on my knee even though it is fairly long! You'll start to get some sleep soon. It's taken me a bit but I think exhaustion has been causing me to get a night's sleep here and there. Hang in there.

 

[sistersinhim]

I think we should wear our badges with pride! After all, not many have been through what we have!

 

[KarriB]

My TKR is ugly and I get lots of stares in the summer months. But at least I'm walking!