Diagnosis | Pain after knee surgery

Diagnosis

The answer to the question of whether the pain after knee surgery is still one of the harmless pains that accompany healing, or whether there is a complication that increases the pain, can best be given by a doctor. In this case, the specialist is primarily the orthopedic surgeon who has operated on the knee. He knows how the joint looked during the operation and what reactions are to be expected. To confirm the diagnosis, an ultrasound can be used in addition to the physical examination, for example to determine the amount of effusion. If a purulent infection is suspected, a puncture of the joint may also be useful under certain circumstances.

Treatment and therapy

The pain therapy after a knee operation is usually first carried out with so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These include Ibuprofen, Diclofenac and Novalgin®. The advantage of these drugs is that they not only reduce pain but are also anti-inflammatory.

Paracetamol can be used to reduce fever. If the pain becomes very severe, the drugs can be combined with opioids. In addition to pain therapy, the aim is to eliminate the cause of the pain if possible.

For this purpose, for example, a severe knee joint effusion can be punctured and thus relieved. This usually leads to pain relief and can also relieve nerves irritated by pressure. If the nerve is only slightly irritated, the numbness usually heals by itself. However, if the sensitive nerve has been completely severed, the feeling is unlikely to return. If a thrombosis is present, blood thinning with heparin should be performed and the leg should be compressed with an elastic wrap bandage or adapted compression stockings for at least three months.

Duration of pain

After knee surgery, pain is completely normal up to a certain limit. Most operations are now performed arthroscopically, i.e. only small holes are cut in the skin through which instruments can be advanced to the knee. As a result, there are no longer any large skin incisions, and the pain caused by the incisions on the skin is significantly reduced.

Large knee joint replacement operations, for example, are an exception to this rule, but larger incisions are still necessary to insert the knee prosthesis into the bone. In knee operations, however, not only superficial incisions are made; injured structures in the knee are also either cut out or possibly sutured back together. All this initially leads to pain, which can be treated postoperatively with painkillers.

It is therefore typical that painkillers (often Ibuprofen®) are given in a slightly higher dose for a few days to weeks after knee surgery. Depending on the size of the operation, the pain should subside after one to several weeks.