admin
Yes, if blood sugar is well controlled! You can go for knee replacement surgery even if you are diabetic. The only condition is that your sugar levels must be under control.
Before the surgery, your doctor will check the blood sugar level. And, if it is acceptable or under a safe limit, they will proceed with the surgery.
Doctors use the HbA1c test to learn about a patient’s blood sugar level. This test shows the average of a patient’s blood sugar levels for the past 3 months. An average of 7.5% or below is considered safe and thus a person can go for knee replacement surgery.
Besides this test, the doctor might also order some other tests.
To learn about knee replacement surgery and other crucial things, read this article.
Knee Replacement Surgery
This is a safe and successful joint surgery.
This surgery is done to restore the function of a completely damaged knee. Usually, people need this surgery when they have so much knee pain that it interferes with day-to-day activities.
Under this surgery, a surgeon removes damaged parts from the knee and then uses an implant to resurface the removed parts. This helps relieve chronic knee pain and improve function, which results in a better quality of life.
Old people with arthritis often need this surgery. If a patient has diabetes and sugar levels are higher than normal, the surgeon will recommend controlling blood sugar first.
And, once blood sugar has been brought under control, surgery will be planned.
Also Read: Knee Replacement Recovery Time
How to Control Diabetes Before Surgery
Pay attention to the following points. They will help bring high blood sugar under the safe limit.
- Avoid all sorts of junk foods and stick to a healthy diet
- Make sure that you only eat foods that are not high in calories, salt, sugar and saturated fat
- Have your meals daily at regular intervals
- Don’t skip meals
- Don’t overeat to keep a healthy weight
- Reduce your weight if you are obese
- Work out regularly
- Avoid plain water over sweet beverages whenever feeling thirsty
- Avoid alcohol
- Stay away from sweets
Causes of Knee Damage
The knee has various parts, including bones, ligaments, tendons, muscles, bursae, synovium, etc. Multiple causes can damage these parts and ultimately lead to conditions where knee replacement surgery becomes the last option to treat intense knee pain and offer relief.
Fractures: If you have completely damaged/fractured the knee during an accident, you might require knee replacement surgery to improve the condition.
Osteoarthritis (OA): It is a condition of damaged cartilage, which is a cover of soft tissue over a bone end. Osteoarthritis results in chronic knee stiffness, pain and immobility! This condition can develop either after an injury known as Post-Traumatic Arthritis (PTA) or normal age-related wear and tear.
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): The knee joint can also get damaged due to RA or rheumatoid arthritis. It is an autoimmune disorder. This condition causes joint pain throughout the body. RA affects the knee differently than OA.
Rheumatoid arthritis causes knee synovitis—the inflammation of the joint lining. Chronic synovitis increases joint fluid, which damages the knee. If RA isn’t controlled well in advance, you will require knee replacement surgery to fix the damaged knees.
Infections: Septic arthritis and reactive arthritis are two major types of arthritis caused by harmful germs or pathogens. If these infectious joint conditions aren’t treated on time, they cause knee damage and early arthritis.
Deformities: Knock-knee, bow-leggedness and hyperextended knee are three types of knee deformities. People often have these conditions by birth. Such a knee deformity leads to early wear and tear or degeneration. Due to that, a person has to face arthritis early in life.
Diagnosis
The following tests are used by doctors to examine the knee and make an exact diagnosis.
X-Rays. This test helps see what is wrong with the bones in the knee. However, this test doesn’t tell anything about the conditions of the soft tissues such as ligaments, synovium, cartilage, etc.
MRIs. An MRI test tells about both bone as well as soft-tissue conditions. Besides, this test offers a detailed imaging experience.
CT Scan. This offers the same results as an MRI test. But an MRI mightn’t be suitable for every patient. A person who already has a metal implant inside the body isn’t recommended for an MRI.
This method relies on magnetic energy. Magnetic fields can interfere with the implant, causing complications.
The doctor might also order other tests as per the symptoms and conditions.
Anaesthesia Used
Anaesthesia is the process of using medicines or anaesthetics that make a patient unconscious before surgery. There are three types of anaesthesia.
General Anaesthesia: This is used to make a patient totally unconscious.
Regional Anaesthesia: Under this anaesthesia, only specific parts of the body are made numb. It doesn’t make you totally unconscious. For example, to only numb the bottom half of a patient’s body, an anaesthesiologist can use this anaesthesia.
Local Anaesthesia: Under this anaesthesia, only the site of operation is made numb, not any other parts.
For knee replacement surgery, surgeons often use general anaesthesia. However, if the surgeon considers it best, they can also order regional anaesthesia!
What to Expect After the Surgery
The following care is ensured for better recovery and fast rehabilitation postoperatively.
Blood Clot Prevention: You will be made to stand or walk as soon as possible. Initially, you might have to use crutches or a walker. Walking helps prevent blood clots.
Medications: Furthermore, painkillers and antibiotics are also prescribed to help the patient handle pain and reduce the risk of infections.
Physiotherapy: This therapy helps improve joint function after the surgery. A physiotherapist offers a variety of exercises to achieve this goal. Exercises also help strengthen muscles around the replaced joint. The therapy also includes prevention education.
Check-Ups: After discharge from the hospital, you might have to meet with your surgeon for follow-up check-ups. During these check-ups, your surgeon ensures that everything is alright. 14 days after the surgery, your stitches are removed.
Recovery usually takes 12-14 weeks on average. However, it varies a lot from person to person and so does the follow-up care!
Complications After Surgery If Diabetes Not Controlled
A patient has to suffer the following complications if blood sugar is high postoperatively:
- Late wound healing
- Risk of infections
- Late recovery
If sugar levels are high in the blood, they hamper the body’s natural healing capacities and the surgery wounds don’t heal faster or they don’t heal at all.
Furthermore, the patient is more likely to catch infections at the site of operation. And, ultimately, it leads to the complication of late recovery, which impacts the life of the patient negatively.
Conclusion
Yes, it is totally safe. Don’t face intolerable knee pain regularly. Or pop painkillers to compromise your health. You can go for replacement surgery even if you have diabetes. The only requirement is that your blood sugar must be under control.
Before recommending knee replacement surgery, a surgeon will make sure that blood sugar is under the safe limit. If the blood sugar is too high, the surgeon will first recommend bringing it under the safe limit. The safe limit as per the HbA1c test is 7.5% or below.
To know more, connect with a knee replacement surgeon. To learn about the success rate of knee replacement surgery, visit the following material: knee replacement surgery success rate
