Question...longest life knee replacement ?

Spiderman

Hi everyone.I have been lucky enough to have a wrecked knee replaced about 18 months ago :oops: Im just over 50 so I`m already worrying about when it will wear out...I reckon about 20 years? Anybody got anything older than that? Life enhancing as it is....I dont want to do it again! :roll:

stickywicket

Hi and welcome to the forum.. The good news is that the latest survey in The Lancet says 25 years.
https://tinyurl.com/y2gr2cnf
Obviously there's a bit of give and take there depending on all sorts of factors. I had my first TKRs in 1981. One was revised about 10 years ago but I still have the other mainly because my excellent surgeon says it'd be dangerous to do anything with it unless it becomes an emergency. It's way out of position and, yes, it hurts but it's still, just about, working. The knee revision on the other leg is as good as when it was first done but, as more bone has to be removed for a revision, it's just about a thigh to ankle job.

I think you're a bit unusual in that you have a new knee and are wondering how long it'll last. We're more used to people wanting them in their 30s or 40s and not thinking about what happens then. When I got my first replacements I didn't either. I was 35, had had RA, untreated by modern DMARDS (as they weren't on offer back then) for 20 years and consequent OA. I also had two small boys to rear and they were my priorities. I reckoned by the time I got to my 60s I wouldn't need knees half as much as I did back then. It was absolutely true and I don't regret it for one moment but, actually, knees are still quite useful things even when you're in your 60s and 70s

Look after it, as I have with mine. Give it plenty of exercise but not stupid exercise. Don't bang it and crash it about. Free fall parachute jumping isn't ideal or, as a friend has emblazoned on his T-shirt 'If at first you don't succeed free fall parachuting isn't for you'

Nor should you climb buildings with it, Spidey