Those New Knees may be Good for the Long Haul
Here is some good news about the long term prognosis for those of you who are facing possible knee replacement surgery: the long-term prognosis is pretty good.
A long-term study of knee replacement patients, presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons in San Diego, found that most patients were doing very well 20-years later–even those who had broken all the rules and ran or played tennis.
A majority of the patients could walk indefinitely, and about the same number were “pain free.”
It is important to note that these patients were pretty old, as the average age at time of surgery was 64. So being pain free and highly mobile 20-years later (with one or more knees replaced) is a pretty sweet deal!
Here is the Health Day story on the study. Here is the study abstract.