Your knees are made up of bones, cartilage, muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves. They allow your legs to move when you walk, stand, run, turn and bend down and they also provide support for your body. If your knee becomes injured, which can often happen when playing sports, or worn due to osteoarthritis, then you’ll probably feel a great deal of pain and the correct functioning of your knee may be difficult.
Knee injuries and conditions are common and so therefore are knee surgeries. Knee surgery is often used for the treatment of different conditions that can cause knee pain.
At New Hall Hospital, we are proud to work together with well-regarded orthopaedic surgeons who have a special interest in knee surgery. We offer excellent, local care for the diagnosis and treatment of knee problems. We provide a full range of diagnostic facilities as well as excellent rehabilitation support and physiotherapy for our orthopaedic knee service.
The knee surgeries we regularly perform include: knee arthroscopy, meniscal tear surgery, ACL reconstruction and knee replacement surgery.
We offer a range of types of knee surgery:
During arthroscopic knee surgery, your surgeon inserts a small camera, called an arthroscope, into your knee joint. The camera displays pictures on a video monitor, and your surgeon uses these images to examine and diagnose your knee condition. Once your surgeon has diagnosed the problem, they may decide to treat your knee during the same procedure by guiding miniature surgical instruments to repair or remove damaged tissue.
Knee arthroscopy is usually carried out under a general anaesthetic as a day case procedure, typically taking between thirty minutes to an hour.
Knee arthroscopy can diagnose or treat knee injuries including:
• Remove or repair torn knee meniscus (cartilage between bones in your knees)
• Wash out and remove loose fragments of knee cartilage or bone resulting from wear and tear that get caught in your knee joint. An alternative treatment to knee replacement surgery if your arthritis isn’t too severe.
• Reconstruct torn anterior or posterior cruciate ligaments
• Trim damaged articular cartilage
• Treat a displaced patella
• Remove swollen synovial tissue
• Internal fixing of knee fracture
Knee arthroscopy surgery allows your surgeon to diagnose many common knee problems and treat them at the same time, negating the need for another procedure.
Additionally, knee arthroscopy requires only a couple of small incisions rather than completely opening up your knee to perform the surgery. With the use of an arthroscope and miniature tools, your surgeon can easily perform knee surgery safely and with less complication, less pain, less joint stiffness and, often reduced recovery time compared to open surgery.
The complication rate for knee arthroscopy surgery is very low. If complications do occur, they are usually minor and treated easily.
Complications following knee arthroscopy can include: infection at your knee joint, severe knee pain and stiffness, accidental damage to the nerves around your knee joint, blood clots and accumulation of blood in your knee.
If you decide to pay for your treatment, Ramsay offer an all-inclusive Total Care package, where a single one-off payment at a pre-agreed price, delivering direct access to all the treatment you need for complete reassurance. You can also spread the cost of your treatment with finance options available. Find out more information about your knee arthroscopy cost here.
A knee arthroscopy may be covered by your medical insurance policy. We advise you to check directly with your insurance provider and get written confirmation before commencing treatment.
Knee arthroscopy surgery is a day case procedure so you should be able to go home the same day. Before you go home, one of our physiotherapists will talk you though some exercises to get your joint moving and, recommend exercises to aid healing and your recovery.
Your knee will most likely be swollen for at least a week and walking may be uncomfortable.
Your knee arthroscopy recovery time will be dependent upon your specific procedure and varies by patient. Your surgeon will discuss with you how long it's likely to take to recover and give you instructions on what activities to avoid, such as lifting and sport, until you are fully recovered.
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