18 months after partial knee replacement

I've been looking for similar experiences and perhaps found it here. I am 47 and had Bi-Partial Makoplastys on both knees (under knee caps and medial side of patellar), in 2019, 6-months apart. My right knee is now 26 months old and doing okay.. sometimes i hit a sharp pain.. but mostly okay. However, the LEFT knee is now 20 months old and was the more difficult surgery for some reason. More swelling, bruising, pain in patellar tendon (even though still numb today!), the list goes on. I am fairly fit.. (I train group fitness for Seniors - all low impact) ..but even the slightest air squat (no weights) causes medial pain in the patellar tendon. This LEFT knee has collected fluid since the surgery and still does. I cannot go a day without a patellar tendon brace to walk about the house without it feeling like there is a wave gushing around inside. Also feels unstable. I still walk the steps like a toddler... one step at a time .. Left Foot Down .. then Right on the same step... then Left, etc.. because my knee caps can't bear the weight going down. Unfortunately for me, the LEFT has had issues since day 1 ... the RIGHT is occasional and its frustrating because I am so active. I feel like giving up sometimes... giving up on fitness... no more weights... no training... maybe take a break for 6-months but fear I will seriously digress on leg strengthening. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow to find out why this patellar tendon is not healing as I expect. I will update when I know more. Good luck and go easy.

Hi there

Im so glad you started this discussion! I am a 58-year-old woman and had both of my kneecaps replaced in October 2019 so I’m at 17 months . I’m in pretty good physical shape and have been relatively diligent about my exercises since surgery… Before surgery I wasn’t working out like I used to because of the discomfort… Anyway.....

I’ve been getting better with time but going up and downstairs still hurts and bending into a squat is also painful.

I can’t relate to Shell because her discomfort seems to have come on later…

I’m here to see if anybody who has had the surgery has taken this long… To fully recover? I thought by now I would be all better… Anybody else have the same issue?

I’m starting to wonder if it’s ever going to be completely better… I know it will never be the same as it was but I certainly was hoping I would be able to bend at the knees and do things without discomfort…

Thanks,

jennifer

Hi,

I had partial knee replacement on both knees just over 2 years ago. All was great until a few months ago when I started getting pain in my left knee while walking. When I sit and take the weight off, the pain stops. It got progressively worse over time with swelling and I am now limping most of the time. Occasionally I get a very sharp intense pain and the knee collapses. My gp referred me back to the original surgeon who first x-rayed it but it didn't show any problems. He then sent me for a Spect CT scan which is a ct scan followed by an injection of a small amount of radioactive material and then a second ct scan a few hours later. They did this to both knees for comparison. It showed an "uptake" of the radioactive material into the bones which was normal but the amount on the left knee was higher, almost as if it was glowing. He said this showed microscopic loosening of the prosthesis. Aseptic loosening. The next step will be revision surgery on the left knee to a total knee replacement. I am a little worried by this surgery and I have posted on here in the hope I can get advice from anyone who has undergone anything similar?

Kind regards