The actual knee surgery

When you're going to have knee joint replacement surgery, this takes place in an operating theatre. You'll lie on your back during the operation.

You'll usually have a cuff around your thigh. This is intended to temporarily stop blood flow to your leg. However, it isn't certain that it'll be used.

The operating nurse or surgeon will clean your leg with disinfectant, which has a yellow colour. You'll also see this colour on your leg after the surgery. It'll gradually disappear during the course of a week.

Thereafter, your leg will be covered, so that only the area of the knee to be operated, as well as your head, won't be covered. In this way you won't be able to see what the surgeon is doing during the operation. Unless you sleep, you'll hear sounds, and you'll notice that your leg is pushed about, but you won't feel any pain.

The surgeon will make a longitudinal incision in the skin on the front of the knee. Thereafter, he'll open the actual knee joint. Now he can access the bones. Using special equipment, he'll cut away bad cartilage, so the artificial knee gets the right angles and movement after the operation.

The artificial knee can be fixed with or without cement. Before the operation, the surgeon will have told you which type of artificial knee he plans to implant, and why he chose this type of artificial knee just for you.

Once the artificial knee has been placed, the knee joint is closed again. The three layers are closed, and it's often chosen to close the skin using small clips. However, it's also possible to suture the skin. Both clip and sutures must be removed about 14 days after surgery.