Knee surgery in Bath

Knee pain can make life pretty miserable.

When our knees our healthy and working properly, it can be easy to pay them no attention. It’s often only when they’re damaged that we realise just how much we depend on them for so many of our daily activities.

Knee pain in particular is a very common problem, often resulting from a sports injury or general wear-and-tear as we get older.

When we have pain or stiffness in the knee, even simple things like getting out of bed, walking downstairs or driving a car can all become much more difficult.

Whether you’re suffering from arthritis in the knee, damage to a ligament or meniscus or incorrect alignment of the joint itself, they would be delighted to help you.

When you visit Bath Clinic for your knee problem, you will have access to the largest group of dedicated knee specialists in the country for best-in-class assessment, diagnosis and treatment for all knee conditions and symptoms.

Our leading knee experts help adults of all ages and activity levels to get out of pain and stiffness, and back to better mobility and function in their knee once again. They would be absolutely delighted to help you too.

Your knee is one of the most complex joints in the body. It is a hinge joint, but also has a small amount of rotational movement which helps to prevent damage when twisting or turning the leg.

As a weight-bearing joint, it has a number of different loads and forces being put through it each time you stand, walk or jump. The structure of the knee, comprising bones, ligaments, tendons, cartilage and shock-absorbing bursae, is designed to help disperse and redirect these loads safely without causing damage to the joint.

With this complexity and function comes the potential for injury or damage. If any part of the knee, whether structural of functional, is affected by injury or disease, it can cause symptoms such as pain and stiffness.

Some of the common reasons people come to us for help include:

• Pain
• Stiffness
• Swelling
• Instability / knee giving way
• Deformity in the knee
• Knee locking / not fully straightening
• Clicking in the knee
• Weakness in knee
• Difficulty weight-bearing
• Inflammation

Knee conditions that can cause these symptoms include:

• Osteoarthritis in the knee
• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury
• Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injury
• Meniscus tears
• Joint surface damage Iliotibial (ITB) friction syndrome - also known as Runner’s Knee
• Patella femoral pain syndrome
• Patellar tendinopathy
• General sports knee injuries
• Kneecap dislocation

While many knee injuries will resolve themselves naturally over time, others may continue to cause you problems. If your knee injury doesn’t seem to be getting better over time, or is starting to affect daily life, it is sensible to have things investigated by a knee specialist to get clarity about what exactly is going on in your knee and how it can best be treated.

Likewise, ‘wear and tear’ damage in the knee will often only cause fairly mild symptoms, particularly when the degeneration is not too advanced. If the damage is more extensive, with severe osteoarthritis for example, you may find that the pain and stiffness in your knee is bad enough to start limiting your mobility or interrupting your sleep. This is also a sensible time to get expert medical guidance.

Getting expert help, advice and the appropriate treatment when needed can help to get you out of pain and keep you mobile and active.

Bath Clinic does not have paediatric facilities, therefore we cannot accept any appointments for those under 18 years of age – thank you for your understanding.

One of the most important things to know about knee pain is that many people who visit a knee surgeon will find that their symptoms can be treated successfully without the need for surgery. In other cases however, knee surgery may be exactly the right choice. Your consultant at Bath Clinic will always clearly explain suitable treatment options so that you can make an informed decision about treatment.

Initial treatment for knee problems will often be conservative, and these can be very good at relieving symptoms. They include:

• Physiotherapy
• Pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication
• Joint injections

All of these can be arranged for you at Bath Clinic. Our physiotherapists work closely with the knee surgeons to ensure any exercise or mobility programme is tailored to your specific needs. If over-the-counter pain relief medication is not able to help, your consultant can prescribe stronger medication where appropriate. Joint injections tend to be of a corticosteroid, which provides a pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effect.

If these non-surgical treatments aren’t able to give you appropriate symptom relief, surgery may be an option. We provide a comprehensive range of surgical treatments.

Where severe osteoarthritis has damaged the joint surfaces in the knee and is causing severe pain and mobility problems, Total Knee Replacement (TKR) can be carried out to remove the damaged joint surfaces and replace them with artificial components made of cobalt chrome and titanium.

A Partial Knee Replacement (PKR) can be done where only part of the knee has been damaged.

Where the ACL has been ruptured (torn), ACL Reconstruction will help to restore stability in the joint again. The damaged ACL is reconstructed using graft tissue taken from the hamstring tendons or patella tendon.

When a meniscus has been damaged, Meniscus Repair can be carried out. Although still fairly uncommon, Meniscus transplantation may be an option. This uses donor tissue to replace the damaged meniscus. It is not appropriate for all patients, but your consultant will be able to discuss this further with you if required.

An Osteotomy can be done to correct misalignment of the knee, where the poor alignment is causing damage to specific parts of the knee.

Patella correction/stabilization can be helpful if you suffer from recurrent dislocation of the patella (kneecap).

Many modern knee operations can be carried out with keyhole surgery (knee arthroscopy). This minimally invasive approach to surgery means smaller cuts, reduced pain and bleeding, less visible scarring and a faster recovery.

Whether your knee problem would be better treated with or without surgery, by “open” surgery or keyhole surgery, you will be guided at every stage by a leading Consultant Knee Surgeon. With some of the top knee surgeons in the country choosing to work at Bath Clinic, including international leaders in ACL reconstruction and meniscus repair, you will always be in extremely good hands when you come to us for treatment.

When you meet with your chosen consultant at Bath Clinic, they will take a medical history and ask you in detail about your symptoms. They may ask you questions like:

• What symptoms do you have?
• When did these symptoms first appear?
• Have you recently experienced any trauma to your knee (for example, was your knee knocked in a heavy football tackle)?
• Have you received any treatment already, such as prescribed medication or physiotherapy?

They will carry out a clinical examination of your knee, and often your hip, back and lower leg as well if they suspect that your knee pain may be referred from a problem in one of these areas.

This may be all that is needed to make a diagnosis, but often you will be referred for further investigations. These may include blood tests, X-ray, CT or MRI scans or ultrasound. With comprehensive imaging facilities on-site at Bath Clinic, any of these can be easily arranged for you if required. On-site radiologists provide fast reporting of any scans, so that the results are back with your consultant as soon as possible.

Once the results of any tests are back and a diagnosis has been made, your consultant will meet with you again to discuss them with you and to explore possible treatment options.

For some knee problems, your consultant may need to perform knee arthroscopy, a form of keyhole surgery. This gives them an excellent look inside the knee joint. If certain problems are seen, such as damage to the cartilage or a ligament, these can often be addressed during the arthroscopy to provide relief of symptoms.

It may be that referral to another specialist is needed. For example, if it is found that the pain in your knee is being caused by a problem in your back or hip, you will be referred to a spinal surgeon or a hip surgeon.