Revision Knee Surgery

Indications for Revision Knee Surgery

Patients who had a previous knee arthroscopy or knee replacement and are still experiencing persistent pain and symptoms after recovery should be further examined by their doctor to see if revision surgery is the right choice for them. Your orthopedic surgeon will evaluate your symptoms and perform tests to determine if a revision surgery might be a good next step for you.

Reasons why a person might have to undergo a revision knee arthroscopy include [1]:

• Reinjury or trauma to the joint: If a patient re-injures their knee joint or has trauma to the joint, it might need to be repaired.
• Instability: If a patient is experiencing instability in their knee after their first surgery, they might need further surgical treatment to correct this condition.
• Incomplete healing after prior repair or reconstruction:
• Alignment problems: Sometimes the shape of the bones may require correction if soft tissue surgeries have not worked.

Reasons why a person might have to undergo a revision knee replacement include:

• Fracture or trauma to the joint: Fracturing or trauma of the bones that make up the knee joint might damage or displace the implants from the primary procedure.
• Wear and tear of implant: The implants used for knee replacement are made to last many years but will experience normal wear over time and might need to be replaced.
• Loosening/instability or poor alignment of the implant: If the patient was experiencing instability of their replaced knee or the implant was not placed accurately during the first procedure, then this might necessitate a subsequent procedure.