Product Liability Lawyer Blog
After having a total knee replacement procedure, there is generally a somewhat long and painful recovery period. This is especially true in the case of a bilateral total knee replacement. This is a controversial procedure that involves a surgeon, or even two surgeons, replacing both of a patient’s knees at the same time with an artificial knee implant device.
While it is common for a patient to get severe osteoarthritis in both knees at the same time and to ultimately need both knees replaced, many doctors prefer to do the operations on separate occasions. The reason they prefer this course of action is because even though the total recovery time is doubled, the patient is up and walking around much faster, and this means they are out of the hospital and less likely to get a serious infection.
Patients are also less likely to get a serious clotting disorder known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), where clots form deep in the veins of the legs and then travel to other parts of the body, where they can cause serious damage and even death. On the other hand, doctors who perform bilateral knee replacement procedures favor the reduced rehabilitation time. Continue reading