Question: I am a 73 year old female. About two months ago, I was beginning to feel some straining on the outer left knee area when I would get up from a seated position. I went to an orthopedic specialist who took x-rays and stated that I had severe arthritis...limited cartilage...bone on bone..He gave me a cortisone shot. One week later, as I was walking down steps in my house, my knee popped, locked and began hurting when I would walk. I returned to the ortho group and received a second cortisone shot...the strain on the outside of the left knee is gone...but since the knee pop, lock...the pain has been on the lower inside of the left knee...I have also been to an emergency room where x-rays were taken with the same diagnosis of severe arthritis...limited cartilage...but the emergency doctor thought that I could also have torn meniscus...and should The ortho group thought that since the cortisone wasn't working to relieve the pain on the inside of the knee, that they would begin a series of three shots of orthovise,(hyaluronic gel)...I found no relief with the gel shots either. In the meantime I attended a seminar on Signature Personalized Knee Replacement by Biomet using a 3-D MRI to build a personalized knee joint.... I have decided to go ahead and have the knee replacement done....but I am somewhat worried that while I need the knee replacement due to the severe arthritis and the bone on bone situation....that I still may have a different injury to the knee that might impede the healing of a knee replacement. Could the arthritic condition be the sole cause of the pain on the lower inside of the knee...or is it possible that I might have a meniscal tear or an MCL injury in addition? (I still haven't had an MRI of the injured knee.) What impact could that have on the healing process involved in a total knee replacement?