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.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is a surgical procedure designed to repair a torn or injured ACL, a crucial ligament in the knee. It involves using a graft of new tissue, typically a tendon, taken from another part of your knee to restore stability.
Elbow arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that involves the use of a small camera, called an arthroscope. It aims to diagnose and treat various problems inside your elbow joint including elbow pain, stiffness, locking or swelling.
A shoulder arthroscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that involves the use of a small camera, called an arthroscope. It aims to diagnose and treat various conditions affecting the shoulder joint, such as inflammation, injuries, or damaged tissues, and perform necessary surgical interventions.
Wrist arthroscopy is a surgical procedure used to diagnose and treat problems inside your wrist joint.
Back pain is discomfort in the spine, often due to strain, injury or lifestyle. The pain can be associated with stiffness, muscle spasms and reduced motion. Explore causes, treatments, and preventative measures for a healthier back.
Bunion surgery is foot surgery performed to realign or remove deformed bones in your big toe and foot caused by a bunion.
Carpal tunnel is nerve compression in the wrist causing pain and numbness. Explore carpal tunnel surgery, a procedure relieving pressure on the median nerve in the wrist to improve hand function and reduced discomfort.
Surgery to remove scar-like tissue from under the skin of the fingers and palm of the hand.
Ganglion removal surgery is performed to surgically cut away a ganglion cyst. It aims to relieve pain, improve joint function and cosmetically enhance the ganglion area.
Hand and wrist surgery is broad ranging orthopaedic specialty. It is normally performed by an orthopaedic consultant with a special interest in hands and wrists to treat several injuries or damages
Surgery to remove the damaged ball and socket of the hip and replace with an artificial ball and socket made of metal, plastic, ceramic, or a combination of these materials.
Knee replacement is knee surgery to repair worn arthritic knee joints or knee injuries using an artificial knee joint to help reduce pain and restore movement in your knee.
Podiatry surgery is the surgical management of the bones, joints, and soft tissues of your feet and their associated parts.
Hip arthroscopy is a minimally invasive procedure that allows your surgeon to see inside your hip using a camera inserted through small cuts in the skin. It is used to examine, diagnose and treat problems that are causing pain and/or restricted movement in your hip.
Lumbar microdiscectomy surgery, also called microdecompression or microdiscectomy, is a minimally invasive procedure that relieves sciatica leg pain.
Lumbar discectomy treatment is the removal of the herniated or bulging part of an intervertebral disc in your lower back. It is performed to relieve the pressure the bulging disc is exerting on nearby spinal nerves.
Spinal decompression is a type of surgery used to give your spine nerves more space and relieve their compression. “Decompression” usually means removing tissue that is compressing a spinal nerve.
Revision total hip replacement is hip surgery to repair your artificial hip joint, when your prosthesis has become damaged over time due to normal wear and tear or infection, so that your hip can function normally again.
Shoulder and elbow surgery treats pain and stiffness in your upper limbs that may be due to injury, wear and tear, or a long-term condition. It aims to restore the full use of your shoulder or elbow without pain.
Rotator cuff surgery is shoulder surgery performed to repair torn and damaged tendons and muscles in the rotator cuff of your shoulder and, aims to alleviate shoulder pain and improve functionality.
Surgery for problems of the small toes aims to correct the deformity and prevent it from interfering with your daily activities if simple measures haven’t been successful.
Total shoulder replacement is shoulder surgery to relieve pain, restore motion, and increase strength and function in your shoulder.
Trigger finger is a common and painful condition that restricts your finger or thumb movement. It affects the tendons in your finger or thumb and causes them to lock or catch as they bend towards your palm. Trigger finger release surgery is performed to widen the tunnel that your tendons pass through in your finger or thumb and to resolve a condition known as trigger finger.
A partial knee replacement, also known as unicompartmental knee replacement, is surgery that replaces only one damaged compartment in your knee with implants.