Excellent advice regardless of which doctor you choose!

Not familiar with local orthopedists, but....
Smaller incision means less exposure within the joint itself. So that must mean different hardware is implanted.
"No muscle or tendon cutting" equals less pain, shorter rehab. Sounds good but there must be a trade off some where. So basically I would want answers to two questions:
1) why doesn't everyone do the procedure this way???
2) how is the "new" joint going to look 5 to 10 years out??? I.e. How long does it hold up before further work???
I'm not trying to be critical, but it would really like to know the answers to my questions.
PS I am a retired anesthesiologist.

Dr Nguyen uses for most patients the Stryker "get around knee"...the same knee available to all Surgeons who replace knees. My incisions are approx. 5-6 inches in length on the side of the knee cap. However one thing that Nguyen does that many other Drs do not, is he offers you the option of doing a blood test (not a patch test) for metal allergies. This test cost approx. $200-250 and may not be reimburseable by insurance. In most cases the test comes back negative and you will get the Stryker knee. BUT if it does come back positive you would then get a ceramic knee to avoid any allergic reaction to the metal down the road. You can read other posts on TOTV about the problems that can occur when someone has an allergic reaction to the metal knee...NOT good. So technically the knee put in place by Dr Nguyen should last the same as the other knees put in place by other Drs.

Why don't other Drs do it from the side which spares cutting muscle and ligaments?? Simple answer is They were trained the old fashion way and it would take too much time and effort away from their successful practice to learn a new technique which is totally different than how they are used to doing business. If you go to Dr Nguyens' seminar or his web site, you will see how and why he developed this new technique..As a young Doctor he saw knee replacement patients in much pain and his goal was to reduce or eliminate pain from the equation.

Another suggestion for anyone considering knee replacement surgery is to go to the Dr waiting room and talk to patients who have just recently had the operation performed and get their first hand views. Another place to go is local PT facilities and talk to PT's and patients getting their perspective on who is doing the best regarding Total Knee Replacement surgeries.

full knee
 

Played 18 holes of golf 22 days after Dr. Nguyen's replacement.

Dr. Nguyen is a pioneer. His background was saving limbs that other doctors could not.

The knee hardware is the same as other doctors, he simply inserts the hardware from the side, not the front and therefore does not cut through your muscles and tendons. He numbs the inside of your knee so pain is so minimal!

My procedure on both knees was outpatient.

Please do yourself a favor and at least check this out.

I am with you on this, I had TKR 2 years ago. Robotic and computer assisted by doctor. Smaller incision, muscle is pulled to one side. However, this is major surgery, with general and a femur block. No real pain after due to med and block, as you know. I did spend 3 days in the hospital, this is major surgery, cutting bone etc. Careful monitoring BP, fluids, and infections. Also did very light PT, walking and how to go upstairs. Believe me, this is not day surgery. A cane should also be used as long as you are taking pain med, it is very bad to fall.

I was in to my doctor yesterday for consult on having my other knee done and I asked him about the Stryker knee and he said "junk", the company has had hundreds of both hip and knee recalls. I did notice that they no longer have ads of their "get around knee" on TV.


These are the best videos that I have found on orthopedic procedures. If you want knee, choose and then choose from list ....TKR is last on list. Very informative.
Http://www.southshoreorthopedics.com...ocedure-in-3d/