Knee Replacement Surgery

Enjoy more of the activities you used to do before knee pain. Explore joint replacement surgery at EvergreenHealth. Our technology and less invasive techniques have made the surgical experience easier and faster than ever—while maintaining the excellence you expect from us. That's why Healthgrades awarded us their top five-star rating for quality care that leads to better patient outcomes.

Is Surgery Right for Me?

Knee replacement, or knee arthroplasty, offers a long-term solution for joint pain for those suffering from arthritis that hasn't responded to conservative treatments. This condition wears away cartilage, or cushioning, between the bones in your knee, so they rub uncomfortably against each other. You may experience:

• Stiffness and swelling that makes it hard to bend or straighten your knee
• Pain that worsens when you walk, stand, or climb stairs
• Sense that your knee is locking, popping, buckling, or catching

It might be time to consider joint replacement if these symptoms haven't gotten better after nonsurgical approaches. These include medications, reducing your activity level, taking part in physical therapy, and getting injections of pain-relieving steroids or joint lubricant.

Total & Partial Knee Replacement

Schedule a personal joint replacement consultation with one of EvergreenHealth's board-certified total joint surgeons. You'll explore your options and learn about what to expect from treatment.

Partial Knee Replacement

If you have osteoarthritis in just one part of your knee, you may be a candidate for partial, or unicompartmental, knee replacement. This approach treats only the damaged part of your joint while leaving healthy bone and tissue alone. Your incision will be smaller and the surgery much less invasive than it would be during total knee replacement, so you can get back to your daily activities sooner.

Total Knee Replacement

Most patients receive total knee replacement, which treats the entire joint. Using robotic technology along with minimally invasive surgical techniques, modernized pain management, and rapid recovery protocols, patients are recovering more quickly with less pain.

Advanced Technology Means a Better Fit

Your new joint will feel more natural and last as long as possible thanks in part to EvergreenHealth's sophisticated robotic technology, including the Mako SmartRobotics™ and CORITM surgical systems. They help your surgeon place your knee in exactly the right position. They also allow for a smaller incision and a less invasive approach, meaning you'll recover faster, with less pain and scarring.

Before Surgery

Before the procedure, your surgeon uses our special software to make a 3D virtual model of your knee. You will get a computed tomography (CT) scan to help your surgeon make the digital model. The model helps us evaluate the bone and joint and determine the right size, placement, and alignment of your new knee.

During Surgery

To perform your procedure, the surgeon guides a robotic arm in making precise, steady movements to remove damaged bone and cartilage. Then, the surgeon puts a metal-and-plastic implant in your knee to help it move better. Throughout surgery, our technology gives real-time data about your new joint so your EvergreenHealth surgeon can make adjustments as needed for the best fit.

If you're hoping for a return to athletic activities, your surgeon may use a technique that leaves your cruciate ligaments alone. This approach allows you more natural movement after surgery.

Expect your operation to last about one or two hours.

Anesthesia & Pain Relief

Rest assured, we'll keep you as comfortable as possible throughout your surgical experience. You'll likely receive general anesthesia, which causes you to sleep, as well as a spinal block to reduce stress and blood loss. To prevent pain after surgery, your care team can also use:

• Nerve block (adductor canal block) that numbs the front of your thigh and knee for 24 hours
• Long-acting nerve blocks around the sides and back of your joint
• Preoperative iovera treatments that uses cold therapy to freeze nerves in your operative leg

With these pain approaches, you should require fewer opiates/narcotics after surgery. You'll have fewer side effects from your pain medicine and feel better.

Pain Management at Home

If you have an adductor canal block at the time of surgery, your EvergreenHealth care team will give you a medication pump. This device delivers a local anesthetic (pain reliever) straight to a nerve in the front of your thigh through a catheter (thin tube). That means you can rely less on narcotic or opioid pain medication. Please see your Patient Passport for more instructions about the pain catheter care and management.

Supporting Your Recovery

We know you want to get moving again as soon as possible. There is no better place than home to get started. Your preoperative physical therapy functional assessment will prepare you for going home the day of surgery (as long as your surgeon feels it's appropriate). Your preoperative functional assessment visit will teach you how to use a walker and how to prepare your house for your recovery. You'll be able to get around with a walker for two or three weeks after surgery before you transition to just a cane. As you keep doing your recommended exercises and therapy, you'll start to move around without a device. If needed, home health physical therapy can be arranged for the first week or two before you start you outpatient rehabilitation.

You can plan to return to:

• Sedentary work (tasks you can do while sitting) in just three weeks
• Standing work and light physical tasks, like going to the grocery store, in six to eight weeks
• Active, physical labor in four to five months

Over time, you'll return to a lifestyle that feels much more like the one you lived before joint pain.

Helping You Recover Faster

EvergreenHealth's fellowship trained total joint surgeons also prescribe ROMTech PortableConnect, an advanced orthopedic rehabilitation technology that can be set up in your home and help you recover from your knee surgery faster.

ROMTech's technology is leading edge, helping you recover from a total knee replacement, total hip replacement, joint manipulations, ACL surgery and other arthroscopic repairs. With our state-of-the-art surgical techniques and the at-home tools provided by ROMTech, you could recover in half the time. By giving you the ability to complete your therapy from the safety and privacy of your home, you'll see faster outcomes, unparalleled pain management and a faster return to the kind of life you want to lead.

Plus, using ROMTech's PortableConnect adaptive telemed technology can significantly lower your cost of care.