The most common pathway to knee replacement Melbourne begins with being stuck with severe osteoarthritis and a joint that’s basically shot, confirmed by X-rays showing significant joint space loss. Oftentimes, candidates have tried just about everything first physio, injections, meds over months or even years, before surgery even gets considered. And age is only one factor a 55-year-old who’s still really active with bone-on-bone arthritis is just as likely to get the go-ahead for surgery as a sedentary 75-year-old with the same kind of imaging. It all comes down to how much it affects their daily life.
Before surgery, docs look at a patient’s BMI, cardiovascular health and how they manage their diabetes, because all those things can impact the risk of anaesthetic complications and how well the wound heals while they’re recovering. Patients with RA usually get referred to see a specialist a lot sooner because their joint damage is just so much more aggressive it accelerates a lot faster, and can make surgical planning a whole lot trickier. What the doctors are really trying to figure out is whether the patient is going to recover well from surgery, not just whether they really do need a new knee.
Partial vs Total Knee Replacement: What’s the Difference?
When doing a partial replacement, the doc only targets the damaged part of the knee. That’s usually the medial (inner) part, and it leaves the cruciate ligaments and any good cartilage that’s still there in place. Some studies think this can help people get back to moving pretty naturally after they recover. Total replacement on the other hand resurfaces the whole knee with a femoral component, tibial plate and a spacer that goes in between. This is what you need when the damage is so bad it’s gone beyond just one bit of the knee.
The use of robot systems has helped a lot more people get partial replacements because they can better size up the implants before the surgery even takes place. Recovery from partial replacement is usually quicker, but not everyone is a good candidate. The long-term revision rates for both types of replacement are tracked in the Australian National Joint Registry, which is basically the best source of data in Australia on how all this stuff works out in the long run.
Implant Selection and What the Registry Tells Us
The Australian National Joint Registry tracks how good the different implants are at not needing to be redone after a few years. This is the single best way to figure out which ones actually perform well over time, at a population level. Experienced Melbourne surgeons tend to stick to high-performing implants that have a good track record on the registry, especially because if an implant does fail and needs to be replaced, it can be a real recovery nightmare.
When picking an implant, surgeons take a lot of things into account, like the patient’s anatomy, activity level and their own experience with a particular system. Here in Melbourne, the Victorian Hip and Knee Surgeons use both the Navio and Mako robotic systems with implants that have a good track record on the registry. What implant is going to be used, and what its revision rate is on the National Joint Registry, is something patients should definitely ask about at their knee replacement in Melbourne consult.
Hospital Stay and the Early Post-Operative Period
The length of the hospital stay following knee replacement surgery in Melbourne ranges between two and four days and is dependent on the patient’s physical condition, home environment and recovery progress. Walking and standing using frames takes place within the first 24 hours after surgery with the assistance of the physiotherapist, which can be an important component of the procedure but quite surprising for some patients. Post-operative pain control includes regional blocks before the surgery, anti-inflammatory drugs and oral pain killers.
The discharge from the hospital is also dependent on the possibility of home access, especially to stairs and whether any inpatient rehabilitation will be needed before coming back home. Anticoagulant medications to prevent blood clots as well as early mobilisation are included in the usual post-surgery care in all Melbourne hospitals. Swelling control with the help of ice, elevation and compression affects early pain levels and the possibility to undergo physiotherapy.
