Consultant choice for new knee

1958slewis

Hiya everyone
Have my first NHS appt with a consultant in late August, but decided to pay and get an initial diagnosis. I have an arthritic right knee with bone spur which has recently decided to lock too. I was told that I need a TKR (total knee replacement).
My question, the first of many I'm sure, is there is so much information out there, can someone please direct me to how I found out about each consultant in my area (Herts), their success rate, why they use a specific implant and why? I think I need to have as much information as possible before my first NHS appt.
Regards, Steve

[Deleted User]

Hi Steve,

Welcome to the forum, it’s lovely to meet you. So you have had a private orthopaedic appointment which has shown you will need a new knee and now you are on the waiting list to see one on the NHS.

Will you be seeing the same specialist when you get your appointment? I’ve found that to be the case when I had an initial private appointment.

I’ve seen that your local area offer enhanced experiences re knee replacements, this means you take a more active part in your pre surgery with exercises, general health etc. You will also be advised if there is a weight issue. I have had experience of this and found it to be great, we were in a small NHS hospital, we were told we weren’t ill and we were helped to get going as soon as the sedation for the operation started to wear off. I came home after 3 days and continued my recovery there.

You may find you are offered a number of hospitals to choose from to speed up your operation, if that’s so that would be the time to check out consultants as you wish to.

Here’s our Versus Arthritis booklet regarding knee surgery

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/knee-replacement-surgery/

Do let us know your experiences as you progress along the knee replacement route, good luck

Take care
Yvonne x

1958slewis

Thanks Yvonne.
Do you or anyone have information about whether there are different types of implants for patients who wish to live a more active life, Post Operation (sports pursuits) with their new knee, as opposed to someone who wants to live a more sedentary lifestyle after surgery, both pain free with luck?
I appreciate that racketball, squash and running are probably not recommended, but I would like to continue to play golf, if possible. Any golfers with feedback on this please?
I expect that everyone‘s individual case is different and that a lot depends on the success of the surgery and recovery/rehab post op.
Steve

stickywicket

Golf should be fine after a while but you might have to modify your swing. See here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19684299 and here https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/knee-replacement-surgery/ Scroll down to see the section on exercise. You should discuss this with your surgeon. I hope all goes well.

ElaineGr

Thoughts please. Was first diagnosed with OA after battling with a knee injury for a year. Within the same 20 minute meeting was referred for TKR as physio thought nothing else would help. After self referral to local MSK team I am now pretty much pain free, just discomfort and occasional pain, and am walking3/5 miles doing yoga - pretty much all the things I used to do albeit the compromise is doing less, less often and being very aware of stopping before overdoing it. My referral dare for the surgeon has now come through but I really don’t want to consider knee surgery at this stage. Should I still keep the appointment anyway and chat to him, or cancel? I am mindful of taking up a valuable appointment someone else may need. 

noddingtonpete

Hello @ElaineGr and welcome to the Community.

Good to hear that you are managing your knee osteoarthritis. It might still be worth going to see the Consultant to get their opinion. They should be able to say whether you still need it or not. I am sure they won't do unnecessary surgery.

Please let us know how you get on.

Best wishes

Peter