According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, approximately 581,000 knee replacements are performed each year in the United States. A knee replacement may be the recommended treatment if a patient has a severely damaged knee due to arthritis or injury. A patient should consider a knee replacement if he is experiencing excessive pain, difficulty walking and climbing stairs and if conservative treatments have not helped with the current knee problem. Knee replacement surgeries are generally safe, with only 2 percent of surgeries resulting an infection, according to the AAOS. However, a patient should be aware of warning signs of serious complications after knee surgery.
Pain
A common warning sign of the knee surgery complication is excessive pain afterward. Excessive pain is a warning sign for infection, blood clots, nerve damage or excessive damage to the joint itself. If infection is the cause of pain, a patient may experience fever, chills and night sweats along with the pain. If blood clot is a concern, a patient may notice excessive swelling in his lower leg or redness below the surgical site. Pain related to nerve damage may also result in weakness or numbness in certain areas around the knee or in the lower leg. Thus, a patient who is experiencing excessive pain as a warning sign should immediately let his surgeon know that he is experiencing this symptom so a proper diagnosis and treatment can be started to prevent further complications.
Swelling
A serious warning sign that a patient should be aware of is swelling in the knee after knee surgery. Minimal to moderate amounts of swelling are normal. However, severe swelling should be a cause for concern. Severe swelling may be a sign of infection, blood clots, excessive bleeding or excessive damage in the joint. In this case, a patient should first elevate the joint above the level of the heart to see if swelling improves. If swelling does not improve, he should immediately contact his surgeon so the cause of swelling can be determined. The patient should seek immediate emergency medical treatment if he has difficulty breathing associated with swelling, which may be a sign of a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot that has spread to the lungs.
Drainage
According to Medline Plus, infection is a common complication that may occur after knee replacement surgery. Although this complication rarely occurs, drainage is a warning sign of both infection and excessive bleeding. An infection may occur because bacteria on the patient's skin, the surgeon's surgical tools or on the knee replacement itself may reproduce and infect the surgical site, the joint or the entire patient's body. In the case of infection, the patient may notice copious, foul smelling drainage from the surgical site. If blood vessel damage has occurred, the patient may notice excessive blood oozing from the surgical site. Infection and blood vessel damage are both serious complications that require immediate treatment to prevent further complications.
