Restricted movement | Knee TEP symptoms/pain

Restricted movement

Painkillers

After your operation you will be given painkillers in the hospital, especially in the days after the operation. These can be administered either orally or intravenously, so that the patient is as painless as possible and can cope well with the initial light mobilization exercises. There is a choice of different groups of medication.

The best known group are the so-called NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), which include active ingredients such as ibuprofen, diclofenac or naproxen (ASA should not be used as it increases the tendency to bleed and could promote swelling). The NSAIDs work against both inflammation and pain by preventing the body’s own pain messengers from developing. A more specific group of NSAIDs are COX-2 inhibitors such as etoricoxib, which only block a specific enzyme responsible for the development of pain.

Weakly effective opioids such as Tillidine or Tramadol, and in rare cases for severe pain opioids such as Fentanyl or Morphine, are used when pain cannot be controlled with the above-mentioned substances. If the course of the disease is without complications, it is no longer necessary to take painkillers beyond the hospital stay. However, a decision on this is made by the treating physician in each individual case. More information on this topic can be found in the article Medications for a knee TEP

Pain during simple strengthening exercises

Can I do sports despite pain?

The basic rule is that sport should not be done beyond the pain threshold. Especially if the cause of the pain is unknown, the pain is particularly severe or is accompanied by other symptoms, such as a feeling of instability or sudden loss of strength, sporting activity should be discontinued.However, pain during sports can also be normal during rehabilitation measures. Especially when it comes to mobilizing the knee or climbing stairs at the beginning, many patients have slight pain in the knee joint, but this should disappear over time.