After returning home one can expect usually an increase in pain for a few days. It is a good idea to plan on staying around the house for those first few days and oral pain medication will be available by prescription for the patient to use as needed. Anti-inflammatory medication taken regularly during this post-operative period will lessen the need for stronger narcotics and their side effects. There are no limitations as far as bending and straightening the knee and weight bearing is allowed as much as tolerated. Using a walker or a cane is usually done for a few days until the patient feels alright without them. A general rule of thumb for the first week is to work on the exercises as provided by the physical therapist, but not to overdo it as far as getting out and walking too much because the knee feels good. Overdoing it will not damage the knee, but the patient may experience more pain and swelling that night and the next day. If that happens the best thing to do is simply rest and elevate the extremity. Usually the wound is closed with a suture that dissolves itself under the skin. When there is no more drainage from the knee and it has been four days from the surgical procedure the wound can get wet and be patted dry from a shower. When the wound is dry it can be left open to the air at all times. It is common to have a mildly elevated temperature after a procedure like this and it is important to keep the lungs cleared out using the incentive spirometer provided by the hospital, as this will help keep the temperature down. Tylenol may also be taken for an elevated temperature. The first post-operative visit is usually one to two weeks from the time of surgery and at that point the pain should be decreasing gradually and the patient's are encouraged to start getting out and about as tolerated. Driving can be done as soon as it is safe to do so and we would encourage the patient to make sure they can operate the vehicle safely before pulling out on a busy road. At the first post-operative visit x-rays will be taken and further instructions will be given as far as increasing activity, usually an exercise bicycle is recommended a week after surgery, sometimes formal physical therapy is ordered if either the patient or the surgeon decides it is necessary. The knee will be swollen for the first few weeks and the swelling will gradually go away, there may be bruising as well that slowly dissipates. It is typical a month after surgery to still have some aches and pains, especially at night and when getting in and out of a chair.
The second post-operative visit is usually about four to six weeks after the operation and hopefully at that point the patient is quite mobile and doing almost everything they were doing prior to surgery, although again there will still be aches and pain from the operation itself, which will slowly fade over the next few months.
The end result of partial knee is typically an occasional twinge of pain now and then. Many patients report that there is no pain at all and the knee feels perfectly natural, although it is more realistic to think there will be some occasional discomfort. Most patients who have one total and one partial knee prefer the partial, it typically has a little more bend and feels more natural.
The success rate of this procedure is 90-95%, with over 1000 knees done over the last ten years as of this writing in 2010. Those few with problems occurring in the first few years from unexpected degeneration of the other side of the knee have been successfully revised to total knees.
