How is a knee replacement planned for someone who has walked with a stick for fifteen years?
Dr. Mahajan is Chairman Orthopaedics, Joint Replacement & Chief Robotic Joint Replacement at Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.
A man in his sixties came to Dr Ramneek Mahajan with fifteen years of knee trouble, and his operation was planned before it began from a CT scan, a detailed X-ray that builds pictures of the inside of the body.
Why did the patient need surgery?
Dr Mahajan says the patient had knee problems, and walked with a stick, for 15 years before coming for treatment. A family member says the patient could not sleep properly or walk straight, and always used a stick.
Which operation was chosen, and why?
A family member says the advice was a robotic knee replacement, in which the surgeon uses a robotic arm to guide the cuts. Dr Mahajan says the robotic route means the operation can be decided beforehand from the CT scan, and everything then checked inside the operating theatre.
How was the operation planned?
Dr Mahajan says a CT scan was done of the patient's hip, knee and ankle, which gave three-dimensional computer models, and the whole operation was planned before it began.
How did the patient recover?
Dr Mahajan says the patient was walking with a stick the day after the operation and left hospital within 48 hours.
A family member says the patient was on his feet and walking a day after the operation; progress was gradual, and now, 12 days after the operation, the patient walks straight without a stick.
The patient says that now, 12 days after the operation, he can walk a long way without a stick and without help from anyone.
What should a patient ask before a knee replacement?
This is one man's story, not a promise: what an operation can do for you depends on your own case.
Ask whether a CT scan will be used to plan the operation before it begins.
Ask when you can expect to stand, walk with a stick, and leave hospital.
What this case teaches
Needing a cane or walker because of knee pain is one reason surgeons consider a replacement, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons says.
Robotic help put the new knee off the leg's straight line a third as often as standard surgery, a 2025 review of 21 trials found.
Function in the first years was no better with the robot, the same 2025 review of 21 trials found, and operations took longer.
