Knee op

[Red1973]

Can you have a knee replacement with a local anesthetia as opposed to general anesthesia

[suzy1959]

Yes! I have had 2new hips and 2new knees all done with epidural plus sedative. I would wholly recommend it and I think it is most common now.

[Red1973 in reply to suzy1959]

Thanks for your reply- was this in UK - I have been waiting for knee replacement which eventually should have been done Mar but delayed re covid - am now top of list but had cardiologist contact me today to say I should go on statins as minor calcification in arteries ( she stressed not serious) but wants to delay my op so I am hoping local anaesthetic/ epidural would be less risky than general which I was meant to have as standard.

What sedative did you have and did you have any side effects?

Thanks

[suzy1959 in reply to Red1973]

Not sure what the sedatives were but they made me feel woozy in a nice way, and of course, recovery is much easier. I had my ops in London, but most people I know have had spinal anaesthetics with joint replacements. I imagine they will recommend that If you need it. I am surprised that you were told a general anaesthetic was standard!

[Hidden]

I suspect it could depend on if you have other pre existing medical conditions.

I have atrial fibrillation and am treated with Warfarin and Bisoprolol. I had to come off Warfarin a week before hand. I had a GA. I was operated on as an NHS patient in a private hospital in Truro, Cornwall. I had a partial knee replacement.

My sister ( some years later) had a full knee replacement in Guildford, Surrey with no known other medical conditions and had an epidural. My sister was operated on as an NHS patient in a NHS hospital.

John

[Mikmax]

I agree with all other posts - I had a partial knee replacement in October and had an epidural together with sedation, it works really well making you drowsy and I fell asleep. You will also get strong painkillers for a while afterwards before going onto Paracetamol. Just make sure you do your exercise after the op - I worked really hard and now 9 months later my knee is back to normal

[Ragrug]

Yes I had it done a few years ago and it went very well...I have COPD and lung cancer and couldn't have a General however the local " epidural" was extremely successful .

Ragrug

[katieoxo60]

Interesting question Red1973, did you not get details at the hospital of what these ops involve. ?? Most orthopeadics use the epidural style treatment but it has been changed to a different type now general aneasthetics are used less frequently mainly for complicated surgery. If you contact your hospital they may be able to give you some brochures or there are some good sites on line. I am top of list for a knee op that was cancelled in March. If yours was due in March you should already know which op you are having and all the gory details Hope your other health does not delay it unnecessarily.