When several doctors say a knee replacement is needed straight away, what should decide it?
Dr. Mahajan is Chairman Orthopaedics, Joint Replacement & Chief Robotic Joint Replacement at Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.
A woman whose right knee had troubled her for years, since a childhood sports injury, had heard that advice before she saw Dr Ramneek Mahajan.
How did it start?
The patient says her trouble began long ago, when it was diagnosed as a sports injury from childhood, and she followed the advice of the time: no climbing steps or mountains, and no running fast. For many years she felt a lot of discomfort in her knees, mostly the right one.
What did the earlier doctors advise?
The patient says she visited a couple of doctors people suggested, and they all told her she needed a total knee replacement straight away.
What did this surgeon say had to be done?
Dr Mahajan says the patient had grade 4 osteoarthritis on the right side, so she needed an operation, and it was done with a robot's help, the surgeon using a robotic arm to guide the cuts. Osteoarthritis is the wearing away of the smooth surface inside a joint, and grade 4 is the last stage on the scale doctors use, when that surface has worn through.
What changed after the operation?
Dr Mahajan says the patient was helped up two hours after the operation. Within a week or ten days she was out of the house for walks, she took up her activities again in a couple of weeks, and she now does all her activities and her work.
What should a patient ask when told a replacement is needed now?
This is one woman's story, not a promise: what an operation can do for you depends on your own case.
Ask what grade of arthritis your X-rays show.
Ask how soon after the operation you will be helped to stand.
What this case teaches
Severe pain or stiffness that limits walking and climbing stairs is one reason surgeons recommend a replacement, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says.
The NHS says a knee replacement may be recommended when knee pain has a big effect on your life and other treatments have not worked.
Getting up and moving early is a key part of enhanced recovery after joint replacement, a 2026 review notes.
