“We normally try to discharge the patient after two nights, which is a very good compromise between early discharge and allowing the patient access to in-patient physiotherapy, to gain their confidence for recovery at home,” says Mr Kinmont.
“There are special techniques, i.e. to do the procedure without a tourniquet, which minimises blood loss, bruising and swelling in the leg after the operation.”
The anaesthetist uses a spinal anaesthetic and an adductor nerve block, which optimises the first 24 hours post-surgery, adds our knee surgeon.
“I inject copious local anaesthetic in and around the knee to minimise the initial pain.” continues Mr Kinmont.
“I use implants that allow full weight bearing straight away in order that the patient can mobilise as quickly as possible with the physiotherapists.”
Patients are assessed preoperatively to ensure that they have a clear plan for their rehabilitation after the operation too.
Evidence suggests, continues Mr Kinmont, that the best results from knee replacements are achieved by experienced surgeons who use a consistent technique and carry out large volume joint replacement surgery regularly in units where regular joint replacements are performed.
“This is a more important factor than the type of implant used,” he says.