I Still Have Pain After a Knee Replacement Surgery...Now what?

14 October 2015
Comments: Comments Off on I Still Have Pain After a Knee Replacement Surgery…Now what?
Category: Blog, Case study
14 October 2015, Comments: Comments Off on I Still Have Pain After a Knee Replacement Surgery…Now what?

I frequently see patients who complain of knee pain that either was not improved, or that it got worse, after a knee replacement surgery.  Unfortunately, this is a very difficult problem to manage. Ruby C. is a female in her mid-fifties that came to our clinic today complaining of persistent, and severe, pain in both knees after having one knee replaced in 2014 and the other knee replaced 6 months ago. She had knee pain and was taking pain medication for it before her surgeries, but the pain got worse and she had to increase her intake of pain medication after her surgeries. When she mentioned that to her orthopedic surgeon his answer was very typical: “Your hardware is in place, there is nothing else I can do. Go see a pain management doctor.” This doctor also told the patient that she was an “unusual case.”

Well, Ruby’s case is not that unusual. Chronic pain is actually fairly common after knee replacement surgery. Yes, even though pain is probably the main reason patients with knee osteoarthritis undergo a surgery that has many potential serious complications (infection, blood clots, metal poisoning, stroke, heart attacks), in too many cases pain does not improve with surgery. In many cases, pain is actually worse after surgery. This study showed that more than 40% of patients undergoing knee replacement had chronic knee pain after the surgery. This other study showed that the most common pain score after knee replacement surgery is 5 out of 10. So, why are orthopedic surgeons not telling patients with knee osteoarthritis of the real risk of their pain not improving, or actually getting worse, after a knee replacement surgery? On top of that they are rarely willing to manage the cases that represent bad outcomes from the surgeries they perform, and instead ship those patients elsewhere.

In our clinic we are upfront with our patients about the realistic chances of improvement with stem cell therapy. About 70% of our patients with knee osteoarthritis experience over 50% relief of pain. The other 30% may experience pain relief, but on a smaller scale. But, so far, even though most of the patients we treat have moderate to severe arthritis, and most have been told they need knee replacement surgery, less than 2% of the patients we have treated have needed the surgery after receiving stem cell therapy. Furthermore, there is not a single case reported of any serious complication following stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy is a viable alternative to knee surgery for those patients with moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis.

 

To learn more about non-surgical alternatives to joint surgeries go to: www.dontoperate.com