A patient recovering from knee surgery will not normally spend “too long” in hospital, a Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon has said. 

According to research published this year by Science Direct, the number of knee surgeries carried out in Ireland is forecast to increase by 49% by 2036. 

Despite the increasing number of people getting the procedure, Philip Brady of Blackrock Health said there are still a huge number of myths about knee surgery. 

One area where there is a fair amount of misconception is around how long knee replacements last for. 

“Knees always lag behind hip replacement in terms of longevity,” he told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“But over 82% of knees last in excess of 25 years now - which is really good. 

“There’s been huge advances in terms of the technology that we utilise to put knees into people. 

“Most importantly, what we offer in terms of preparing the patient themselves for the surgery and the supports that are present for them after the surgery, setting expectations really is the key to success. 

“I think in the past, people were enrolled into an operation, possibly strong armed into an operation and they never felt that it was the right thing for them or they got the result that they expected.” 

Who should get knee surgery?

Mr Brady said many people remain confused about whether they qualify for the procedure. 

“If you’re suffering from, essentially, intractable pain that’s not responding to nonsurgical options that would include modifications in your lifestyle, making sure that weight is not a huge contributing factor to your symptoms, medication, injection type treatments - all of which haven’t worked for you - physical therapy,” he said. 

“If you’ve exhausted all of those options and you’ve intractable pain that’s interfering with your quality of life, then knee replacement is possibly an option for you. 

“But the decision about that is made by an expert.” 

Medical equiment. Picture by: Pixabay.

Mr Brady continued that many knee surgery patients are able to quickly return home. 

“The truth is that it doesn’t take too long in hospital,” he said. 

“You can do day case knee replacement surgery. 

“But, unfortunately in Ireland, in all aspects of healthcare in Ireland, we’re just not geared up for community based follow up in the first few days after discharge from the hospital.

“We generally have patients in the hospital for anywhere between two to five days, depending on their requirements.

“Everyone’s requirements are different and everyone’s getting the same operation, but their post-operation requirements are different.

“And that’s thoroughly assessed and a bespoke rehabilitation programme is put in place ahead of the surgery - and again, that’s the key to success.”

Main image: A woman with a scar from knee surgery. Picture by: Alamy.com.