Knee

Total knee replacement is a surgery where a damaged joint is removed and replaced with artificial parts (implants) designed to move smoothly. It’s usually recommended when arthritis or joint damage causes pain, stiffness, and loss of function that hasn’t improved with treatments like medications, injections, physical therapy, or activity changes. The goal is to relieve pain, improve mobility, and help you return to daily activities with better comfort and stability.

A partial knee replacement (also called a unicompartmental knee replacement) is a surgery that replaces only the damaged part of the knee, rather than the entire joint. The knee has different “compartments” (most commonly the inside/medial side, sometimes the outside/lateral side or the front/patellofemoral area). If arthritis or damage is limited to just one compartment and the rest of the knee is still healthy, your surgeon may be able to resurface only that area with a small implant. The goal is to relieve pain and improve function while preserving more of your natural knee. Not everyone is a candidate—an evaluation and imaging help determine whether a partial or total knee replacement is the best option.

Knowing when it’s time for a knee replacement often depends on how much your knee pain is affecting your daily life. Persistent pain that does not improve with conservative treatments such as medications, injections, or physical therapy, along with stiffness, swelling, and reduced mobility, may be signs that surgery is needed. When these symptoms begin to interfere with everyday activities like walking, climbing stairs, or sleeping comfortably, knee replacement may be an effective option to relieve pain and restore function.

After knee replacement surgery, patients can expect a structured recovery process focused on restoring movement, strength, and function. Most individuals begin walking with assistance shortly after surgery and start physical therapy to improve flexibility and mobility. While some discomfort is normal in the early stages, pain is typically well managed, and gradual improvements are seen over the following weeks. With consistent rehabilitation and proper care, many patients are able to return to daily activities with significantly reduced pain and improved quality of life.

It is normal to experience some pain after knee replacement surgery, particularly in the first few days as the body begins to heal. Most patients find that postoperative discomfort is manageable and improves steadily with time. Pain is typically controlled with a combination of medications, ice, elevation, and physical therapy. As recovery progresses, the surgical pain gradually decreases and is often replaced by significant relief from the chronic knee pain that existed before surgery.

After knee replacement surgery, most patients will use an assistive device such as a walker or cane to help with balance and reduce stress on the healing joint. These devices provide stability and confidence while walking during the early stages of recovery. As strength, mobility, and coordination improve through physical therapy, patients are typically able to gradually transition away from assistive devices and return to independent movement.

The ability to drive after knee replacement surgery depends on several factors, including which knee was operated on, overall recovery progress, and when it is safe to stop taking pain medications that may impair reaction time. Many patients are able to return to driving within a few weeks, once they regain sufficient strength, mobility, and control of the leg. It is important to follow your surgeon’s guidance to ensure a safe return to driving.

After knee replacement surgery, patients are typically given temporary restrictions to protect the new joint and support proper healing. These may include avoiding high-impact activities, limiting certain movements, and using assistive devices as needed during the early stages of recovery. As healing progresses and strength improves through physical therapy, most restrictions are gradually lifted, allowing patients to safely return to normal daily activities and a more active lifestyle.

Like any surgical procedure, knee replacement surgery carries some risks, although serious complications are uncommon. Potential risks include infection, blood clots, implant loosening, stiffness, and nerve or blood vessel injury. Advances in surgical techniques and postoperative care have significantly improved safety and outcomes, and most patients experience successful results when following proper preoperative and recovery guidelines.

Total knee replacements are designed to be durable and long-lasting, with many modern implants lasting 15 to 20 years or more. Advances in materials and surgical techniques have improved longevity, allowing patients to maintain an active lifestyle for many years. Factors such as age, activity level, weight, and overall health can influence how long a knee replacement lasts, making proper care and regular follow-up important for optimal long-term results.

Robotic knee replacement is a knee replacement surgery where your surgeon uses a robotic-assisted system to help plan and position the implant more precisely.

• Before surgery: The team may use imaging (often a CT scan or other mapping method, depending on the system) to create a 3D plan of your knee.
• During surgery: The surgeon is still fully in control. The robotic system provides real-time guidance and may help the surgeon make bone cuts and place the implant according to the plan, while also allowing adjustments based on your knee’s alignment and stability.
• Why it’s used: The main goal is improved accuracy and consistency in implant positioning and alignment, which may help with knee function and feel for some patients.
• What it is not: The robot does not do the surgery by itself—think of it as a highly advanced guidance tool.

Whether robotic knee replacement is a good option depends on your anatomy, arthritis severity, overall health, and surgeon recommendation.

Knee revision surgery is a procedure to fix or replace parts of a joint replacement that’s no longer working well. It’s different from a first-time (primary) joint replacement because the surgeon is dealing with an existing implant and any changes to the bone or soft tissues around it.

Common reasons someone may need a revision include:

• Wear or loosening of the implant over time
• Infection around the joint replacement
• Dislocation/instability (more common in hips)
• Stiffness or ongoing pain that’s linked to the implant or surrounding tissue
• Fracture around the implant (periprosthetic fracture) after a fall or injury
• Implant failure or malposition (less common)

What happens in knee revision surgery?
Your surgeon may remove and replace one component (like the plastic liner) or multiple components (the metal parts), and may also address bone loss with specialized implants or bone grafting. Revision surgery is typically more complex than the original replacement, but the goal is the same: reduce pain, improve stability, and restore function.

The muscle-sparing subvastus technique is a surgical approach sometimes used for knee replacement that aims to reach the knee joint without cutting through the quadriceps muscle. Instead, the surgeon works beneath (or alongside) a portion of the thigh muscle called the vastus medialis to access the joint. The goal of this technique is to preserve more of your muscle and tendon attachments, which may help some patients experience less early pain, quicker return of strength, and an easier early recovery compared with more traditional approaches. Not everyone is a candidate—your anatomy, stiffness, prior surgeries, and the severity of arthritis all factor into whether a subvastus approach is appropriate for you.

A meniscus repair is a procedure used to fix a torn meniscus—the C-shaped piece of cartilage in your knee that helps cushion and stabilize the joint. When the tear is in an area with good blood supply (often the outer portion of the meniscus), the surgeon can preserve the meniscus by stitching the tear back together rather than removing it. Repairs are commonly done with minimally invasive arthroscopy through small incisions using a camera and specialized instruments. The goal is to help the meniscus heal, reduce pain and swelling, restore knee function, and protect the joint long-term by maintaining as much natural cartilage as possible.

ACL reconstruction surgery is a procedure to restore stability to the knee after a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)—a key ligament that helps control pivoting and sudden direction changes. Because the ACL typically can’t heal reliably on its own, reconstruction replaces the damaged ligament with a graft (often taken from your own patellar tendon, hamstring tendon, or quadriceps tendon, or sometimes from a donor). The surgery is usually performed arthroscopically through small incisions: the surgeon removes the torn ACL, creates small tunnels in the bone, and secures the graft in place to function as a new ligament as it heals and integrates. The goal is to reduce episodes of “giving way,” protect the knee from further cartilage or meniscus damage, and help patients safely return to daily activities, work, and sports with a structured rehabilitation program.

The MACI procedure (short for Matrix-Induced Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation) is an advanced cartilage-restoration treatment for the knee designed to repair focal, full-thickness cartilage defects—areas where the smooth joint surface has been damaged. MACI is typically a two-step process: first, a surgeon arthroscopically takes a small biopsy of your healthy cartilage; those cartilage cells are then grown and multiplied in a lab and placed onto a thin collagen “matrix.” During the second procedure, the surgeon implants this cell-seeded patch onto the cartilage defect so the cells can help regenerate cartilage-like tissue and improve cushioning, pain, and function. MACI is often considered for active patients with localized cartilage injuries (rather than widespread arthritis) and requires a structured rehabilitation program over several months to protect healing and gradually restore strength and return to activity.