Knee surgery!!

[Kahst1]

I need some advice or assurance!!! Not sure which. I am scheduled for knee surgery on June 1st and I’m extremely nervous about being out on GA. I have never had a surgery so I was wondering any thoughts.

[Hidden]

No personal experience Kahst, but many members will and I’m share they will be able to put your mind at rest. If you are taking an anticoagulant, make sure the hospital is aware and be sure to follow their instructions regarding any possible changes to your dosage. Best of luck, hope all goes well....

[Kahst3 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you flapjack, I will follow the directions.

[meadfoot]

I had surgery a few weeks ago, gall bladder removed under GA.. A quick injection in the back of my hand and I was out, no funny feeling going under just here then asleep seamlessly. It really was nothing to worry about but we all do I know. You will be fine. X

[Kahst1 in reply to meadfoot]

Thank you that makes me feel better.

[Hidden in reply to Kahst1]

also had my gall bladder removed a few weeks ago. Advised surgeon and anesthetist that i have a history of AF. No drama, went to sleep and then woke up , you'll be fine

[pottypete1]

I have had many General Anaesthetics the next one in 5 weeks time. As meadfoot said above it is really nothing to worry about.

The knee operation will need you to take care with convalescence so make sure you comply with all the instructions you are given to ensure a full recovery.

Pete

[Kahst1 in reply to pottypete1]

Thank you. All the support is encouraging.

[rosyG]

hi

Ive had two GAs within problem. If you are anticoagulants it may well be better than an epidural

[Hidden]

Hi Kahst,

You don't say what knee surgery so I'll assume its a knee replacement.

I had a partial knee replacement on 6 November 2015. I was 71 at the time, I am on all the usual crap for AF, Warfarin, Bisoprolol, statins, BP meds too.

I am in the UK and I chose my own surgeon/consultant and was operated on in a private hospital as a NHS patient. I informed the consultant well beforehand, and the pre surgery assessment nursing team, that I was on Warfarin and I was told to stop Warfarin 1 weeks before surgery. I did this and it took 6 days for my INR levels to get to normal. No sweat.

I also had a GA. I was operated on at about 11 am, surgery is around 2 to 3 hours but if the issues are complicated can be longer. As soon as I was back in the ward I was given two injections of Fragmin ( a fast acting bridging anticoagulant) and went back to my normal Warfarin dose that evening. From the day I stopped Warfarin to the day I returned to my therapeutic range was 29 days. Again, no sweat.

Look, no point in trying to hide things - this is so close to butchery you'll ever endure. The three most important things are pain relief, exercises and scar tissue.

Because of Warfarin I can only take Cocodomol 30/500 for pain relief, maintain the dose ALL the time as it says on the packet. If you can't get the pain under control to begin with it will impair your ability to perform the exercises which themselves will dictate the success of your recovery and a return to normal life.

Do not rush this process, its not a race recovery is highly individual, hopefully you'll have home help to do all the chores. Your pre surgery assessment team will give you details of the exercises and the frequency you need to do them. Once you have your dressing removed and no infection is confirmed, get to a massage therapist and get her/him to do deep tissue massage on and around the incision line. This is to prevent scar tissue forming within the knee. Scar tissue WILL prevent you from doing the exercises.

After each exercise session, or indeed at any time, do the RICE thing - Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Later in the recovery process you'll probably need to learn to walk again to get the leg working properly again. Heel, ball and toe, heel, ball and toe.

Check with your car insurers, they will tell you when you can drive again. I think you'll find its about 8 weeks. Make sure you tell your insurers, there will be a clause in your policy which says something about telling them of any variations to your health and its impact on your ability to drive.

You'll probably be in hospital for around three days, my surgeon and hospital policy was you must get a 90 degree bend in your knee before they let you home. The PT staff will help you.

This was my first ever surgery in my life !

As I say, I have no idea what type of surgery you are having so if it isn't knee replacement just disregard all this. If it is then good luck. May the force be with you.

John

[Hidden]

I had a total knee replacement under GA this time last year in NHS hospital. Stopped the Riveroxyban for 48hrs prior then back on it after the op.

For the first 2 weeks my thoughts were why have I done this as very painful but I started the stretching exercises as advised while still in hospital.

Once Home I religiously did the set of exercises 5 times a day as much as I could. By the time I got to the physio in week 4 I had 110 degrees of movement and within 2 weeks I was at almost 130 degrees and handed my crutches in

There were people at the physio session who were 3-6 months post surgery who were still on crutches and had around 80/90 degrees and when I saw how hard they were pushing their exercises I could see why.

Whatever you do exercise it ASAP and do the exercises every day as many times as possible, the pain from the first 2 weeks is soon forgotten.

[Polski in reply to Hidden]

Please clarify - Do you mean they were pushing the exercises too hard, or that they weren't really trying? Thank you.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

They weren’t trying, just using the physio session sat around chatting, the worst thing was that some of them were awaiting their other knee doing.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Yorkie, your 3rd paragraph ..... totally agree 😉

[jedimasterlincoln]

I may well be having further knee surgery this summer after having a torn/trapped meniscus last week and severe pain. My last knee surgery (between ablations) I was off warfarin so it didn't matter, but normally they advise to stop 3/5 days before and have an INR on the morning of admission.

It wasn't under GA, though I have had 3 in the past all absolutely fine. I had a local and that was a weird sensation, and not brilliant post-op as it hadn't fully worn off by the time I went home resulting in so much pain I couldn't even get down the stairs the morning after and had to go back into hospital for better painkillers than codiene paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Not sure what happens this time around, rather not have the unstable "lets break through the medications" AF I have at the moment whilst having knee surgery.

[Mike11]

I've had so many GAs for heart, appendix, knee and other ops that when I went for a broken nose repair job I asked if they could do it under local, which I read was possible, and the senior consultant said "oh do you have to ?" and explained it's a real pain for them to operate on a patient who isn't out. So I relented and had yet another GA. Don't worry about it - if you don't wake up it will be for the underlying condition, not the GA. And nobody dies of knee problems that I'm aware of.

[Kahst3]

Thank you for all the comments. I should of been more clear. I am having a meniscus repaired and some cartilage cleaned up.

[Maagaa]

Meniscus repair and cartilage cleanup is not considered a major surgery. Knee replacement is another story it’s a very violent surgery and I was out for 3 hrs. Off your blood thinner at least 5 days before and ask your anesthesia Dr to please keep an extra close eye on your vitals as you don’t want to go into AFIB. Good Luck Kahst1

[barabas]

I have been under GA for a couple of knee repairs (meniscus repair which is minor, but required GA) and most recently for a couple ablations in which case was out under GA for about 5 hours. As others have indicated, GA is essentially painless...you remember nothing...and with the new GA's of recent years, most have minimal, if any, after effects when "coming to".

With knee surgeries...even meniscus...the "work" starts post surgery. Rehabbing effectively is very important, but MD and physical therapists will guide you through it...just want to stay on the program as atrophy of muscles for those that don't stay with the program can lead to longer recovery times.

Also, I hesitate to mention this since I have not used it personally, but someone I know recently had knee replacement surgery performed by a well known MD in major US university/teaching hospital. As a university hospital they are always looking for better ways to perform and recover from surgeries. The surgery was normal process, but they used a different recovery process.

Contrary to long standing practice, no ice or cooling was applied after the knee replacement. Rather, for recovery, they used this device marcpro.com/what-is-marcpro/, combined with the normal physical therapy routine. It is apparently like a Tens machine, but more advanced. Apparently many of the pro and college sports teams in US are using for faster recovery times for all sorts of muscle related injuries. This person's recovery time was about 50% of the normal time...I couldn't believe it when saw him walking normally within a month of replacement. May want to ask your MD about it, although it sounds like this is a new recovery process that is probably not widely known yet.

[Charley53]

I've had 14 GA's including 5 total hip replacements and 3 knee ops and I've never had a problem. You're soon put under and the next thing you know you've got a nurse talking to you and you'll be gasping for a cuppa. Let us know how you get on.

[Kahst1 in reply to Charley53]

Thank you