It is critical that you are committed to a vigorous rehabilitation schedule and are willing to pay careful attention to preventing infection. Other factors like type of surgery, your individual risk of bleeding and complications may impact your recovery. If you have damage in multiple joints, your rehabilitation may need to proceed more slowly, or require special equipment. To learn more about therapy for your procedure, please select from the drop down menu below.
KNEE REPLACEMENT SURGERY
Courtesy of Patterson Medical Products Inc.
You will most likely stay in the hospital for 2 to 4 weeks. Pain medication will be prescribed after the surgery and antibiotics will usually be given for 3 to 5 days to prevent infection. The greatest chance of bleeding is during the 7-10 days after surgery,2 so clotting factor therapy will be administered before, during, and after the procedure.
The long hospital stay allows you to begin the intense physical therapy program in the hospital and you can be closely monitored for bleeding during this time.
To restore movement in your knee and leg, passive movement motion may begin as early as the day after surgery. This may be done by your physical therapist or with a device called a continuous passive motion (CPM) machine. A CPM supports and slowly moves the knee while you are in bed. The machine may be used for 4-6 hours a day because it lessens the pain for some people.2 The machine helps decrease leg swelling by elevating your leg and improves your circulation by moving the muscles of your leg. Foot and ankle movement is encouraged soon after surgery to also increase blood flow in your leg muscles to help prevent leg swelling and blood clots.
The intensive physical therapy needs a high level of commitment, but it is essential for improving range of motion. A physical therapist will teach you specific exercises to strengthen your leg and restore knee movement. Physical therapy will begin with isometric exercises, which involve flexing and relaxing your muscles without moving your knee. Gradually you will move your joint, first with the help of the physical therapist, and then on your own. You will also begin partial weight bearing (such as walking in a harness or with crutches) and more active exercises.15 You will usually have physical therapy twice a day while in the hospital, then 3-5 days a week for the first 2 to 3 weeks after leaving the hospital.2 If you are making good progress, you may be able to reduce your sessions to 3 days a week, for the next 6 to 9 weeks. Some stiffness generally remains in the knee even after complete healing.15 Clotting factor therapy is given before each session according to your individual treatment plan, and bleeding can usually be prevented and controlled.2
You should be able to resume most normal activities of daily living within 8-12 weeks following surgery. Some pain with activity and at night is common for several weeks after surgery. Your activity program should be gradual, beginning with walking in your home, then outside, walking up and down stairs, and doing your physical therapy exercises. You can usually resume driving when you can bend your knee enough to sit comfortably in your car, and when your muscle control provides good reaction time for braking and acceleration.
