Due to the higher risk of complications, double knee replacements aren’t performed in patients older than 75, Westrich said.
“Not too long ago, people thought that if you had one knee replaced, the pain and rehab would be so taxing you wouldn’t want to come back for surgery on the other knee,” he said in a hospital news release.
“But nowadays, with advances in surgical techniques, anesthesia and pain management, the recovery for a single knee replacement at a high-volume joint replacement center is much easier and faster than it was in the past. In our experience, virtually every patient comes back for the second knee replacement,” Westrich said.
Patients typically wait at least three months between surgeries, he said.
Another important consideration is that while most patients go home after a single knee replacement, those who have a double knee replacement almost always spend time in a rehabilitation facility after surgery, Westrich said.
SOURCE: Hospital for Special Surgery, news release