Prosthetic Surgery

Prosthetic Surgery

The process of removing the surfaces of the damaged joints and covering them with a special alloy metal prosthesis is called prosthetic surgery. During prosthetic surgery, damaged joints are cut according to the shape of the prosthesis to be placed, including the bone.

What is Total Knee Replacement?

The artificial joint designed to maintain joint movement by covering the worn joint surfaces with special metal and polyethylene is called total knee prosthesis.

It is applied when drugs, physical therapy, intra-articular injection therapy do not relieve the patient’s pain. It is applied to patients who have many limitations in activities such as walking and climbing stairs, and who have more knee pain due to cartilage wear and tear.

Causes of Deterioration of Knee Joint Structure

Genetic Predisposition (Familial history of joint diseases.)

Congenital knee joint disorders,

Lack of blood flow in the knee area,

rheumatic causes,

metabolic diseases,

Disorders in the knee joint structure due to blood clotting

Being obese

have rheumatic diseases

Who is a Candidate for Knee Replacement?

Knee prosthesis is applied to patients with knee osteoarthritis. Surgery is determined not by age, but by the degree of pain and damage. It can be applied in patients aged 16 and in patients aged 90 years.

Knee Replacement External Treatment Options

Joint freezing surgery is performed in patients who work in heavy and tiring jobs. Joint freezing surgery is not preferred much because it creates too much restriction of movement.

Arthroscopic Joint Cleaning: With arthroscopy, the inside of the joint is cleaned, but it does not prevent calcification.

Use of Knee Pads or Insoles: It relieves the load on the knee joint, but it does not affect the removal of calcification in the same way.

Physiotherapy: It does not affect the relief of calcification, but it is effective in strengthening the muscles around the knee and temporarily relieving the pain.

How Does the Surgery Process Go?

Before the operation, it is checked whether there is any infection in the patient’s body. If the patient’s blood and urine results are clean, the patient is suitable for surgery. If the patient uses blood thinners, the drug is stopped 5-10 days in advance, depending on the condition of the drug. Prosthetic surgery should be performed in operating rooms with special ventilation systems. Standard operating rooms are not suitable for knee prostheses.

After the operation, the patient should move using a wheelchair. In order to prevent coagulation of the vein in the leg, the patient should be walked slowly every 2-3 hours with support. The patient should continue to take blood thinners after discharge. Blood thinners should be used for 30 days and the patient should be very careful after prosthetic surgery.