Knee arthrosis (Gonarthrosis). Knee arthroplasty
About osteoarthritis of the knee joint. What is gonarthrosis?
The knee joint is formed by joining two joints:
- The joint between the distal femur and the patella
- The joint between the distal femur and the proximal tibia
As a result of cartilage deformation of one of the two or both joints, can develop arthritis of the knee joint. Every step the patient takes is accompanied by unbearable pain. In most cases, the pain causes the patient to wake up at night. Depending on the degree of arthritis, deformities may form in the knee joint. In the initial stage of gonarthrosis development, we should reduce the patient’s weight, medications to relieve pain and inflammation, physical therapy and therapeutic exercises. If these methods do not have the desired effect, hyaluronic acid is injected into the joint, which reduces friction and relatively relieves the pain.
These injections can be repeated every 6-12 months and are not addictive. When all conservative methods of treatment are ineffective, doctors recommend surgical treatment, and more specifically total knee arthroplasty. This surgery can be three-part (the articular surfaces of the femur, tibia, and patella are replaced) or two-part (the articular surfaces of the femur and tibia are replaced). We only perform cemented total knee arthroplasty. The main reasons for this are the long-term pain that our patients have been living with and the osteoporosis that has occurred due to age.
The figure shows a total knee arthroplasty
Two days after surgery, patients are transferred to a sitting and standing position and are allowed to walk, leaning on the operated leg. The quality of life improves greatly. At the end of one month after surgery, you will go back to your normal routine.
Total knee arthroplasty is mostly used for patients older than 60 years of age, but can also be performed on younger patients in certain cases. The prosthesis has an average life span of 20 years. If irregularities like (erosion, tapping, position displacement, breakage) occur in the structure of the prosthesis, the prosthesis must be replaced with a new one. During secondary surgery, a larger prosthesis is used.
The complications of total knee replacement surgery include infections (0.5-1.0%), joint dislocation (8-10%), deep vein thrombosis (if prevention has not been carried out 40-60%). All therapeutic and prophylactic measures to prevent such complications are performed in our center.
