Revision TKR TKR spacer replacement

[Hayden]

I am about to have my 12mm spacer in my knee replacement replaced with a 20mm.
How long will recovery be?

 

[Pumpkln]

@Hayden ,
Welcome to BoneSmart glad you joined us!
You'll notice that I have moved your first post and started your recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you have your own 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.
• With your own recovery thread, you will see the posts and advice others have left for you.
• 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.

 

[Pumpkln]

Hayden,
Knowing how long your recovery will be is like asking how long is a string, an unknown.
As long as there is no complication, it should be less demanding than your TKR.
As long as you let your knee heal in the early days, you should start feeling much better around 12 weeks. Hopefully sooner.

Please post your surgery dates, a moderator will add it to your signature. Having the exact date will allow us to better advise, Thanks!

Here are the recovery guidelines, the articles are short and will not take long to read.

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. At week 4 and after you should follow this

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.

 

[kleo]

I just had my spacer replaced in January. It was a good two months of the usual pain, narcotic use, and limited mobility. I was able to use tramadol for another few weeks and it was pretty good by April. It was great in May - best it’s been in years! I’m curious, how do they know how much they’re going to increase the spacer size before surgery?

 

[Pumpkln]

They may have an idea before you go into surgery via x rays, and physical examination. There should be several trial spacers in the OR that they will try to find the right fit. They make the final decision once they get in and are able to balance your ligaments and tendons with the right size.

 

[Hayden]

I dislocated my knee at work resulting in a broken spacer.My accident happened Febuary 6th after x-rays and an MRI the doctor finally agreed with the physical therapist and is doing a spacer replacement but I have no stability in my leg side to side or front to back. Just waiting for surgery to be scheduled

 

[Hayden]

My doctor said he would have to put in a 20mm due to the tendon and ligaments being stretched by the dislocation. Therapy said 30% deficit is treatable I started at 63% by the time therapy was done I was at 81%.

 

[Hayden]

It seems like it's taking forever to get good treatment not sure if it's because it's workman's comp

 

[Celle]

Hello Hayden - You are the only person I've encountered on BoneSmart who had a broken spacer, as I did. It doesn't happen often.

While you're waiting to have your spacer replaced, do try not to bear weight on your replaced knee.

My spacer broke while I was on holiday on the other side of the world. I had to travel home and find a new surgeon as well, so my surgery was delayed for a long time.

Because I had a partial knee replacement (PKR) eleven years previously, the design of the implant had changed slightly and the type of spacer I had was no longer available.
In any case, even though I tried not to use that knee much, by the time I had my surgery I had worn away parts of the metal components where they rubbed together and it would not have been possible to re-use them in that condition. I had a revision to a total knee replacement (TKR).

Please will you tell us the date of your original TKR and which knee it is, so we can make a signature for you?
Also, when you do get a surgery date, please tell us that as well.

 

[Hayden]

Depuy pfc sigma June 11 2011

 

[Celle]

Thank you for posting your original surgery date.

 

[Laurenkate]

Yikes; I had no idea such a thing could happen....

 

[LaPaz]

I am about to have my 12mm spacer in my knee replacement replaced with a 20mm.
How long will recovery be?

I had a spacer replaced and within 6 weeks I was off meds and on my way to recovery. I would say a complete recovery at 3 mo if you do your therapy. You are young so I’m sure you will have a fast recovery.

 

[Hayden]

Surgery date is June 26th

 

[Celle]

Thank you for letting us know the date. Hayden.
I've added it to your signature.


Now you have a surgery date, you could join the June Sunbeams monthly group. I see there's at least one other person having a revision in June.
Just post your surgery date in the
2018 June Sunbeams - Are you having knee surgery in June?
thread at the top of the Knee Replacement Pre-Op Area page and you'll be added to the list.
It's a good idea to get to know your fellow BoneSmarties who will be getting new joints the same month. We've found that it helps to have a group of folks who are going through surgery and do it as a team....helping and supporting each other.

 

[Hayden]

The hr guy at my work tried telling me it's orthoscopic surgery and I should be back to work in 6-8 days.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

Amazing how many experts come out of the woodwork to tell us what will happen when they find out we're having surgery.... With my spacer replacement, he opened up my knee the same way as the TKR. It wasn't arthroscopic surgery-the full length of my original scar was cut. Since I was asleep I don't know exactly what he did, but he had to open up my knee enough to get to the spacer, take it out and put a new one in. Believe me, it wasn't a teeny tiny procedure. But it also wasn't as bad as the TKR. Check out my recovery thread-the date of my spacer replacement is listed here, and you can go to that time frame to see what my recovery time was. (Or you can read the entire thing if you're a martyr.......)

 

[Hayden]

So I talked to the doctor today he said expect anywhere between 12 and 20 weeks of recovery with no rush to return to work.

 

[Celle]

I would say a complete recovery at 3 mo if you do your therapy. You are young so I’m sure you will have a fast recovery.

I'd like to counter these two assssertions:

• It is not necessary to work hard at recovery. In fact, working too hard can be counter-productuive. It's not exercising that gets you your ROM (Range of Motion) - it's time. Time to recover, time for swelling and pain to settle, and time to heal. Your ROM is there right from the start, just waiting for all that to happen, so it can show itself.
• Being young will not give you a faster recovery. It takes just as long for your knee to heal after a TKR, whether you are 18 or 80. The idea that younger people will have a faster recovery is misleading and can lead to a great deal of anxiety and frustration.

 

[SusieShoes]

So I talked to the doctor today he said expect anywhere between 12 and 20 weeks of recovery with no rush to return to work.

Definitely don't rush to return to work. The timeline your doctor gave you is pretty accurate... for about when you can consider easing back into work. Full recovery takes about a year but at three to four months most people (and their knees) will be able to resume working unless they have a very physically demanding job; they'll still need to to baby their knees a bit, and might tire more easily than they did before surgery (for a while), but at least they are feeling and moving lots better than in those first weeks.

That 6- 8 days thing... go back to that HR person after you've had surgery and tell him or her whether that would have worked out.