Carole,
I've had 5 surgeries on the same knee since May/2007. My first surgery was arthroscopic and I felt that it could have been avoided all together. I had bone on bone contact then but the doctor claims that wasn't the case. I have the x-rays to prove it.
That first replacement failed on 01-02-08. I had it replaced(revised) in February 2008. That one failed and I had it taken out and nothing put in because they thought I had an infection--it turned out, there was no infection(thank goodness). I had to have another surgery on March 5th, 2008, to install the device. That device failed shortly after and I had another replacement(revision)in June, 2008. That's the last one I had and so far so good. It was only replacing the femoral component because the tibial component was/is glued in so securely, it is no longer removable.
You can imagine what the doctor had to do to get the newest one to be afixed well enough to not fail.
One doctor did the first surgery(arthroscopic) and the first knee replacement. That failed due to lousy workmanship. A different doctor has done all the others. The second one failed due to a torn lateral ligament. The third one failed due to the lateral ligament on the other side tearing. At least, that's what the doctor has told me. After all that, I really didn't believe much of anything anybody told me.
I'm the poster child for Murphy's Law. If anything could have gone wrong, it did. This is certainly not going to happen to everybody. This is all very very very rare. Not normal. Most people have replacements and are very happy with the entire procedure. However, I have met alot of people that have had stories similar to mine. None quite as ongoing but problems nonetheless.
The most important thing I can tell you to tell your sister is: do all the research she can before she chooses the doctor for the surgery. Make sure he has a long history of doing these surgeries. Make sure he is up to date on all new procedures and that he performs many surgeries a year. My first doctor only did about 40 a year whereas my new doctor does 40 a month. It could be a costly mistake to pick someone that has the potential to mess up.
She also needs to know some things the doctor usually doesn't tell you. It is a very serious major surgery. There is alot of excruciating pain involved for months afterward. It's one of the most painful and hardest surgeries for a person to go through. Your sister should be prepared to take pain killers for awhile. The pain gets worse after physical therapy which is needed to get going again. You lose alot of blood with this surgery. A drain will be installed. The weakness hangs on for a long time afterward. There is so much more but I would run out of space here. The one thing I would mention is, I feel our Mayo Clinic in the USA is probably the best resource for orthopedic/knee doctors in this country. I wish , to this day, that I would have gone to them.
Carole, I'm not a good example for a person that's facing this surgery. I can only hope that I can help someone understand what they're facing. Please tell your sister to email me if she has questions. I'll try to answer them. If you need my regular email, PM me and I'll give it to you.
What country does she live in? I'm not familiar with anything outside of my area as far as medical practices being carried out. I hope I can help her. I also have severe osteoarthritis. It's twice as hard for the person that has that.
Best of luck to her.
Edited to add: I just thought of something......davidp has also had this surgery with great success.
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