Total Knee Replacement Devices May Last But Patients Are Dissatisfied With The Result

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

Just because the mechanical device lasts over a decade does not mean that a patient would have the procedure again if given the choice

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 - One of the vaguest and most misleading aspects of total knee replacement surgery is the answer to the question, "how long will my knee replacement last?" The answer a doctor will usually give is that the physical knee will last somewhere between 15 and 20 years and that may, in fact, be the case. If you phrase the question a little differently, however, and ask, "are you satisfied with the outcome of your artificial knee surgery?" the answer you get will be quite different. An even better question to ask knee replacement patients would be "did your physician explain that your knee pain would have probably subsided to a bearable level had you just lost a little weight?" and "did your physician attempt to treat your knee pain with stem cell or stem cell recruitment therapy to attempt to rejuvenate the cushions in the joint and remove excess synovial fluid?" According to a recent study around 9 out of 10 artificial knees last, the 15 years that a patient was expecting however an overwhelming number of patients are dissatisfied with their artificial knees and many wish they had never undergone the surgery in the first place. DePuy knee attorneys representing people harmed by knee surgery devices offer a no obligation free consultation.

There are a number of reasons why patients that have had knee replacement surgery wish that they never had it done. The first reason for dissatisfaction is that the patient is in more pain months and years after surgery than they were before surgery. Knee replacement surgery is a major surgery requiring a lengthy recovery time. To make matters worse, more is required of the artificial knee joint than from any other implantable medical device other than an artificial heart. A second reason for patients wishing they had held off on knee replacement surgery is that artificial knee joint glue is subject to infections that can lead to debonding of the joint and the need for second revision surgery. So many artificial knee joints have failed that knee replacement device glue is now manufactured laced with full-spectrum anti-biotics. Another reason for knee replacement dissatisfaction is that patients are required to undergo months of extreme and intensive physical therapy in order to strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that were stretched, twisted and torn during the knee replacement surgery. Some knee replacement patients complain that their artificial knee never really fit properly and from the first day left the patient with a feeling of instability and never being able to trust the knee to walk properly or to navigate a flight of stairs.

Finally, when it comes to senior citizens, a demographic that makes up 90% or more of all knee replacement patients, osteoporosis and poor, degenerative bone density make accepting the metal insert that is hammered into the femur and tibia likely to cause fractures and the resultant pain.

These are just some of the hundreds of areas of dissatisfaction knee replacement patients have reported to the FDA. One report I read from the National Institute of Health was from a patient that requires multiple revision surgeries leaving one leg shorter than the other, in constant pain and unable to even walk without a walker who said that he now wished he had just had the leg amputated rather than go through what he had to go through with his knee replacement.

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