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Definition

Knee joint replacement is surgery to replace a knee joint with an artificial joint. The artificial joint is called a prosthesis.

Alternative Names

Total knee replacement; Knee arthroplasty; Knee replacement - total; Tricompartmental knee replacement

Description

You may receive general anesthesia before this surgery. This means you will be unconscious and unable to feel pain. Or, you may have a spinal or epidural anesthesia. In this kind of anesthesia, medicine is put into your back to make you numb below your waist.

After you receive anesthesia, your surgeon will make an incision (cut) over your knee to open it up. Then your surgeon will:

Move your kneecap (patella) out of the way, then shape the ends of your thigh bone and shin bone to fit the prosthesis. Your surgeon will also cut the underside of your kneecap to prepare it for the artificial pieces that will be attached there.
Fasten the two parts of the prosthesis to your bones. One part will be attached to the end of your thigh bone and the other part will be attached to your shin bone. Both parts will then be attached to the underside of your kneecap. Your surgeon will use a special bone cement to attach these parts.

Usually, artificial knees have metal parts. Now, though, some surgeons are using some different materials, including metal on metal, ceramic on ceramic, or ceramic on plastic.

Indications

Knee joint replacement may be recommended for:

Knee pain that hasn't responded to other therapy (including medication, injections, and physical therapy for 6 months or more)
Knee pain that limits or prevents activities
Arthritis of the knee
Decreased knee function caused by arthritis
Inability to sleep through the night because of knee pain
Some tumors involving the knee

Knee joint replacement is usually not recommended for:

Current knee infection
Poor skin cover around the knee
Paralysis of the muscles in the front of the thigh (quadriceps)
Severe peripheral vascular disease or neuropathy that affect the knee
Severe mental dysfunction
Terminal disease (for example, cancer that has spread)
Morbid obesity (over 300 pounds)

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com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:748) at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:1466) at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.channel.WCChannelLink.ready(WCChannelLink.java:119) at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.handleDiscrimination(HttpInboundLink.java:458) at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.handleNewInformation(HttpInboundLink.java:387) at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpICLReadCallback.complete(HttpICLReadCallback.java:102) at com.ibm.ws.tcp.channel.impl.AioReadCompletionListener.futureCompleted(AioReadCompletionListener.java:165) at com.ibm.io.async.AbstractAsyncFuture.invokeCallback(AbstractAsyncFuture.java:217) at com.ibm.io.async.AsyncChannelFuture.fireCompletionActions(AsyncChannelFuture.java:161) at com.ibm.io.async.AsyncFuture.completed(AsyncFuture.java:136) at com.ibm.io.async.ResultHandler.complete(ResultHandler.java:196) at 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Knee joint replacement

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