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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Doctor S Attention Needed For Redness And Swelling After Knee Replacement?

Had complete knee replacement on 12/16/13,infection developed, had drainage procedure on 1/20/14, and on IV antibiotics thru picc line 2 times daily. Doc visit last Friday, said if red on Tuesday come back, The incision area had sutures removed las Friday, tech pulled part of scab off because of how sutures were placed. Overall appearance of knee slight redness but not bright rad more a dull appearance and a slight swelling. Incision scabbing is forming and healing, steri strips put in place to help keep incisionfrom tearing. How do you determine if going back to doc is necessary?
Fri, 28 Apr 2017
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Orthopaedic Surgeon,  's  Response
Hi there. Infection after a total knee replacement is a serious issue and you need to be really careful. If your sutures have been removed you can wait for a period of ten days to two weeks and have another visit to the doctor so that he can asses how your wound healing is going on. Since you've already had two operations over the knee, the skin over the knee is likely to have suffered from scar formation and wound healing will be relatively poor as compared to normal skin. I would follow up any patient with periprosthetic infection following a replacement surgery closely. Also discuss with your doctor if you can mobilise your knee or not in order to prevent stiffness which is an avoidable complication.
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Doctor S Attention Needed For Redness And Swelling After Knee Replacement?

Hi there. Infection after a total knee replacement is a serious issue and you need to be really careful. If your sutures have been removed you can wait for a period of ten days to two weeks and have another visit to the doctor so that he can asses how your wound healing is going on. Since you ve already had two operations over the knee, the skin over the knee is likely to have suffered from scar formation and wound healing will be relatively poor as compared to normal skin. I would follow up any patient with periprosthetic infection following a replacement surgery closely. Also discuss with your doctor if you can mobilise your knee or not in order to prevent stiffness which is an avoidable complication.