What Happens When You Delay A Joint Replacement

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What Happens When You Delay A Joint Replacement?
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• Joint replacement surgery involves the removal of
  the damaged joint surfaces and replacing them
  with metallic implants. The surgery is a major
  surgery that may make the patient anxious and
  various doubts arise in their minds. The fear of
  surgery and various questions like what if can
  lead to delay of joint replacement surgery.
  Timely performed Knee/Hip replacement surgery is
  very rewarding and satisfying for the patient.
  There are various drawbacks in delaying joint
  replacement surgeries.

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Worsening of the joint

• The wear and tear of the joint progress to
  advanced stages and increase in deformity. In
  knees there can be an increase in bowing of the
  legs and in hips there can be an increase in
  shortening of the affected leg. This may result
  in difficult surgery requiring specialized
  implants. At times because of excessive delay and
  bowing, fractures occur in leg bones thus making
  the same surgery very complicated.

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Decrease in muscle strength

• As arthritis progresses, muscles surrounding the
  joint are likely to weaken. People use the joint
  less and limit their physical exertion as a
  result of their pain. As the muscles weaken,
  rehabilitation after surgery may become more
  difficult, and perhaps the muscles may never
  regain their full strength.

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Affect on other joints

• The function of the affected joint decreases. As
  a result, the other joints of the body have to
  work harder which increases stress and can lead
  to damage of other joints.

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Degeneration of Lower Back

• In cases where there is an excessive delay in
  surgery and patients keep walking with bowing of
  legs/ knock knees or unequal leg length, the
  majority brunt is borne by lower back which
  already is aging out. This delay might compromise
  the end result of joint replacement because of
  persistent back issues with pain going down the
  leg.

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General Medical health

• Due to decreased movements, patients may develop
  increased medical problems. Weight increases,
  heart and lung complications may increase and
  stamina decreases.

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Increased requirement of pain killers

• With increasing joint damage, the requirement for
  pain Killers increases which may result in an
  increase in complications from long-term use of
  pain killers.
• As hip and knee arthritis worsens, the stiffness
  of the arthritic joints also worsens. This can
  make the replacement surgery more difficult. That
  may mean longer recovery and more physical
  therapy. Unfortunately in severe cases, joint
  flexibility may never return to normal. By
  waiting too long, you may not get the full
  benefits of your hip and knee replacement
  surgery.