TKR Severe swelling 14 months out

[Golfguy]

Hi Josephine,

Appreciate your response. I clicked on the “Movie Sign” link but was told I do not have permission to view. Is there anything I’m doing wrong, and/or any way you can help me get the link to work? Or anywhere else on the site I can go to view?

Thank you,

Dave

 

[Pumpkin]

Golfguy,
There appears to be a problem with the link, tech will fix it as soon as they can.
Movie Sign happens after sitting too long and your knee gets stiff, has to do with the combination of swelling and the knee being bent slowing down circulation in that area. It will go away with time.

 

[Golfguy]

Pumpkin,

Thanks very much! Look forward to reading the link. I’d sure like the swelling & pain to go away sooner than later.... While I’m waiting for the link to work, anything I can/should be doing proactively to eliminate the swelling?

Best,

Dave

 

[Pumpkin]

Rest, Ice, Elevate, and Medicate on schedule as prescribed or OTC, is the best thing you can do for swelling.
You can also seek out a lymphatic therapist, they may be PT, OT, Chiropractor, or Massage Therapist.

 

[Pumpkin]

The link in Josephine's post should work now.

 

[Pumpkin]

@Golfguy ,
I noticed that you have struggled with swelling right from the start, with your threads merged we will be able to read your history in one place.
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:

• That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
• If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
• Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.

So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.

 

[Golfguy]

Pumpkin,

Thank you for merging the threads and the advice. And link works.

I guess there are no magic bullets. I will definitely be more conscious of getting up and walking around at work. I’m frustrated by my friends who have had knee replacements and have no pain or swelling at this point. When my knee is not swollen I don’t have much to complain about regarding the knee.

Thanks again!

 

[SusieShoes]

If you’re having not much to complain about the knee except for the swelling (and pain due to the swelling), you’re doing good. The swelling will go away. All you can do to hasten it is, as Pumpkin said, rest, elevate, and ice. I even slept with my legs elevated for the first few months. That seemed to help. Everyone is different in how fast their swelling goes down. I also found that walking was a great help in building up stronger muscles around the knee, and that kind of moved things along. The movement involved in walking also helps push fluid out of the lower limbs.

 

[skigirl]

Good advice from Susie. Also, I found that compression hose helped to get rid of the swelling. I wore thigh high compression hose with both my knees and they really did help with the swelling.

 

[KarriB]

Try any of the above advice. Time and patience is important because it can take a year for a full recovery or to feel 100% yourself. If you’re working you may want to do as Susie said, elevate as much as possible during the evenings. When I went back to teaching at 3 months post op I was still swelling after being on my leg through the day so I elevated and iced most evenings.

 

[Golfguy]

Thank you to all. My concern has been that I’m 14 months out front m surgery and getting the heavy swelling. When does it go away? 16 mo? 18 mo?

Does massage or using a foam roller on the site help? Anything else I’m missing besides icing and elevating? I am happy to consider any suggestions that the people on this board who have been through the procedure have to suggest.

Thank you!

 

[sistersinhim]

What activities are causing your knee to swell? Icing and elevating are the best thing to lower swelling. Are you also having pain?

 

[Golfguy]

Hi Sistersinhim,

Thanks for your question. It's difficult to answer what makes my knee swell. For example, two days ago I did a hard spin class. No swelling at all since then. A few days before that, I did nothing but modest walking during the day, went to a movie at night, and walked out of the movie with so much swelling and pain that it was tough to bend my knee enough to get behind the wheel of the car, and I walked with a noticeable link. I would say, as Josephine guessed, that most of my swelling comes not from activity but from sitting for relatively long (greater than two hours) periods at a time.

I've started to make sure that I get up and walk around regularly since sitting, but it's too soon to tell if that's the answer. That's why I'm wondering will this continue to get better with time, or are there concrete actions that I can and should be taking to avoid or at least cut down the swelling events.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[Celle]

A few days before that, I did nothing but modest walking during the day, went to a movie at night, and walked out of the movie with so much swelling and pain that it was tough to bend my knee enough to get behind the wheel of the car, and I walked with a noticeable link. I would say, as Josephine guessed, that most of my swelling comes not from activity but from sitting for relatively long (greater than two hours) periods at a time.

I think that you and Josephine are both right and the after-movie swelling was almost certainly this:
Pain: Movie sign in TKR

 

[Jamie]

You asked how long something like this swelling might go on.....there is no pat answer for that! It is not the norm to be swelling like this at 14 months, but we most certainly have had patients with swelling for several years following surgery. As the folks have suggested, your best bet is to be patient, try and find out a correlation between certain activities (or no activity) and work with that for now. You have done the most important thing and that's to get to your surgeon to make sure nothing is wrong with the implant.

Now, should the pain become more constant or predictable with a particular activity, that would be the time to possibly go for a second opinion or two.

 

[noleg]

Reading Josephine's last comment I too found prolong sitting was causing issues and will move around with a crutch, although at home I would forgo it sometimes. I was looking forward to shows and a movie but having read movie sign those are on the back burner.

 

[Golfguy]

All,

I wanted to provide an update on my situation in the hopes that it might help someone else on this forum. A quick re-cap: I had a TKR on the right knee in Dec 2016. Everything went well until around Nov 2017, when I started having major swelling on a regular basis, with no apparent trigger for the swelling. It could happen after a workout, or while sitting at my desk. The swelling was painful and would make it almost impossible to bend the knee, go down stairs, etc. It would take days to subside.

I spent months working with my orthopedic surgeon to figure out why what had been such a promising early result had gone south after about a year. After ruling out infection, damage to the appliance, gout, etc., my doctor dug deep and started seeking input from others in the medical community. Here is where we ended up.

In about 0.75-1% of TKR, patients may experience intermittent bleeding in the knee. This is caused by "leaking" in the small capillaries in the synovium of the knee. The blood can stick around and cause continual pain and need to be aspirated, or may be reabsorbed by the body over time (the latter was my situation). In my case the doctor had withdrawn 50 ccs of blood from my knee three times when it was swollen and he was trying to get synovial fluid. He called around and found that the best way to treat this condition is through a knee embolization done by an interventional radiologist. My surgeon found the person in Philadelphia who had done the most of these cases (still not a lot because the condition is fairly rare).

Three weeks ago, the interventional radiologist inserted a cannula in my femoral artery and, guided by a fluoroscope and dye, went into three separate areas of my knee where the blood was clearly leaking. He then filled the smallest capillaries he could reach with plastic microspheres. Injecting dye after the procedure showed that the leaking blood had been stopped.

It has now been around three weeks since the procedure, and I have had no swelling of the knee. It can still be achy when I push things, and still feels like an artificial knee, but so far (knock wood) no swelling of the kind I had been having for months.

Happy to answer any questions on forum or PM if anyone would like further info.

Dave

 

[pacosmom]

I’m glad you figured out what was going on & were able to get it fixed! I’m 10 weeks out & my biggest “issue” is the swelling I still gave. I added chiropractic which I think helps some. I’ll have to remember this if the swelling continues. Thanks!

 

[SusieShoes]

You’ve certainly had an unusual journey! Is there a name for the procedure you underwent? Knee embolization? Just want to get it right for future reference should this procedure be something to advise a member to look into.

It sounds like you’re doing well now. Could you please let us know how you continue to do? Better and better, I hope!

And good for you — and your OS — for continuing to look for answers to your problem. It’s way too easy to brush things off as “well, these things happen” and do nothing. You found out what was going on. I’m crossing my fingers this procedure ended your problem once and for all and you can now enjoy your new knee!

 

[newlybionic]

Thanks for the info. It will be interesting to follow how you do over the coming months.