Knee Replacement Failure Can Be Life Changing

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

Complications from knee replacement revision surgery may be difficult to accept

Monday, December 18, 2017 - Patients recovering from knee replacement surgery are optimistic that all will go as planned and they will be back at work or be enjoying their life as they were before. There comes a point in time, however, that a patient may have to admit that something is wrong and that the pain they are in will not go away. If after a period of about a year of rehabilitation the pain, swelling, and redness do not go away, a knee replacement patient should seek a second opinion from another orthopedic surgeon as to whether or not a revision surgery is required.

Even a 1% knee replacement device failure rate is unacceptable when you consider there have been over a million knee replacements since 2001. Of the hundreds of thousands of knee replacement surgeries performed each year, over 95% are successful. That still leaves thousands of individuals in chronic, long-term pain with knee replacement devices that for one reason or another have failed and the consequences are life-altering. Having to have a second surgery to repair or replace the original artificial knee implant is expensive, painful and dangerous. The rehabilitation period for a revision surgery is often much longer than the first. A revision knee surgery could put the patient out of work and out of income for a year or more and there is no guarantee that they will be able to ever return to work. Those suffering a revision knee replacement surgery could find themselves permanently disabled. At the very least they could be left with a diminished quality of life and forced to live on a meager disability income from the government.

If a younger knee replacement recipient returns to work, there is no guarantee that their knee replacement device will work properly and that could lead to having an accident with catastrophic consequences. Work-related accidents such as falling from a ladder, scaffold, the second story floor in a warehouse, or a rooftop could cause paralysis or even immediate death.

A faulty knee replacement device could prevent a person from enjoying the quality of life that they were accustomed to. Younger people enjoy hiking, jogging or other physical activities that they may no longer be able to perform. A person who is no longer able to exercise may be less healthy and put on weight. There may be psychological effects to no longer being as mobile as a person once was.

Here are a few of the postoperative symptoms to look for that could indicate that your new Depuy knee replacement device is failing. The first and most obvious symptom that something is wrong is the pain. Knee replacement pain is normal but after six months the pain should subside. Pain is often a symptom of swelling and infection and should be taken seriously. Redness, warmness, and tenderness around the knee joint are signs that a serious problem exists with the knee device and patients should seek medical attention.

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