Your recovery stories are amazing. I am truly impressed. I am convinced and am going to wait until we move to Florida to get my knee replaced. My doctor said the atmospheric pressure is less in the south and that being out of the cold will help automatically. I'm going to try and wait.
We are so so sorry about having to put down your horses. We just did that with my sons English Bulldog Ms. Fiona yesterday and I would choose the knee pain over this loss anytime. I'm going to force myself to concentrate on the joy that little beast brought me over her life and on the dignity the vet gave to her on her final ride. Grateful for the good time in New Jersey.

Five or six years ago I attended a seminar of Dr Nuygen at Waterfront Inn. He was promoting a procedure called Makoplasty, side incision, quick recovery, out of hospital in 1 day, etc. The next day it was televised on the Villages channel, which I recorded. Of course, I was very excited and when I returned to Boston I did a search to find a doctor who also performed this procedure.

I found one at Greater Boston Orthopedic, went for consult and xray. After looking at the xray, he said I was not a candidate as the Makoplasty is a PARTIAL replacement and I needed a full. I would only be coming back within 2 years for a full. He said that rarely is a partial recommended for ostio in senior citizen. It is usually done on someone younger that has had a injury or previous injury. He did perform a full replacement using Praxim robotic.

I am now getting my other knee done in two weeks. He told me that the hospital has severed ties with Stryker (Makoplasty) due to thousands of recalls.

What also concerns me is that Dr Nuygen does ( i'm told) 10 to 12 of these a day and patient is only seen after by PA. Does he have a quota to make to support an extravagant life style?

MAHLBACH, St Michaels Medical Center in Newalk does robotic surgery.

As always, GET A SECOND OPINION for the right procedure for yourself.

From personal experience being a patient of Dr. Nguyen, you are wrong in your assessment of Dr. Nguyens professionalism, technique, and follow up care including overseeing rehab. And your disgusting insinuation about how many procures he does and why he does them is beyond appalling. .. I'm at a loss to understand your motives in smearing the reputation of a fine medical professional.

And quite honestly, I would be looking for a surgeon who performs a large number of procedures. I don't know Dr. Nguyens but I have heard good things about him. You must perform your own due diligence, but as you appropriately note it is not right to challenge the competency and ethics of a physician (or other professional IMO) without all facts in order. The poster to whom you responded likely has little knowledge of medical care processes - or that the doc probably only operates 1 or 2 days per week.

Thank you for your support of your surgeon.

I appreciate your comments. I just couldn't let that post go.

And I'm glad you didn't.

Dr Nguyen does do approx. 10 surgeries a day and most are Total knee Replacements (TKR), some revisions (ie fixing a problem with possible replacement), very few partial knees, and he is not a believer in minisicus repairs but probably does few of those also.

The reason he does 10 surgeries a day 2-3 days a week is not because of greed but because the demand for his work requires it.....he has a waiting list for TKR of 6 months or more....and people are in pain. Believe me this guy is skilled as well as compassionate. I highly suggest everyone read on line his story for why and how he developed the side method for TKR.

Yes after surgery you will be seeing his PA who typically is with him in surgery. The PA I had afterwards (with my 2 knee replacements) was very familiar with my surgeries as well as my knee medical history. The PA is more than qualified to read your xrays that you bring after surgery, examine the incision for possible infection, review your range of motion, and to discuss issues you may have.

If you have a need to see the Doctor afterwards, the PA can arrange it, or when you call in for your next appt. tell the person your problem and your desire...it can be arranged in fairly short order for Dr Nguyen he sets aside times to see patients with issues....and often he as a PA with him during this exam. This is a busy day for him and any emergency he is called for can delay your apt time.

784caroline and bagboy......love your responses. Dr. Nguyen is a genius. I am 8 weeks out after having my left knee replaced by him. I wrecked it 20 years ago. Two years ago I fell and fractured my right fibula and smashed that knee trying to protect my bad one. 18 months seeing Tri-County Ortho and monthly xrays telling me to be patient that the fracture had healed and the remaining swelling in my knee and leg was just a hematoma and would eventually go away was totally misdiagnosed. When I got my appointment with Dr. Nguyen to eval my left knee, he took one look at my right leg and said it was a Morel lesion and needed surgery to be removed. He took out a sac of fluid that he could put his whole fist and forearm into. He did this surgery in April, July he replaced my left knee and Oct he will replace my right knee. If you don't want to deal with a PA (who are more than qualified) you can see him but will have to wait longer for an appointment with him. I just wish he had an office in The Villages.
In fact, you can see my lesion in my profile pix and how my golf pants rode up over it. It was huge and very uncomfortable.

In the first place, he did not develop this side method, which is for partial knee replacement. Medical device company Stryker, which is called Macoplasty method, developed the cutters, software and instruments. Several doctors around the country are using this method with Stryker. He is also not the pioneer of the" Freedom Knee "as he was calling it ( even his website was freedom-knee dot com. He was sued by Maxx Orthopedics for intellectual properties for using the name Freedom knee, which he obviously has no affiliation with.

Stryker has had thousands of recalls of both hip and knees, and if posters think I should not bring up the subject so that they can make an informed decision, so be it. I for one would not want a Stryler, but to each his own.

No I was not in the medical field, I am a retired dental hygienist, and have worked for many dentist over 40 yrs. Many having a quota, believe it or not it is a business, bottom line. My advice to anyone going to a dentist, do not wear jewelery, expensive clothes, or drive in with a high end car.

And always get a second opinion for any procedure.


Stryker Orthopaedics

I had my second knee replaced 8 weeks ago and I also had a good amount of pain for what seemed a very long time. I had my first knee done 2 years ago and got along beautifully. This one seemed to drag on and on. However when I went back to my doctor, he said I was maybe a little impatient. I have to agree with him as this week everything seems to be great and that is with all the packing we are doing in anticipation of our move to TV.

You can call it what you want, but I Had 2 Total (not partial) knee replacements by Dr Nguyen. There may be a few doctors around the country who claim they use this method but Dr Nguyen is the only one in the immediate area using the side method.

Cannot disagree in getting a second opinion, BUT the opinion should be more than do I need a full knee replacement or not. The issue is how are you going to do it. From that perspective, I would HIGHLY suggest talking to patients in the waiting rooms or the Therapists treating these people and find out how they are doing....what pain did they experience,,,,how quickly were they able to get back to their basic functions.

Just curious..what alternative would you suggest based on your dental hygienist experience??????

My TKR is Smith and Nephew not Stryker. He uses what is appropriate for the patient.

Well...I had a full replacement April 27 by Dr. Fagan in Missouri and he did 3 knee replacements and a hip replacement and a shoulder replacement the same day. They all took about an hour a piece. when i looked for a doctor I wanted one who had lots of experience. I also wanted a Dr that I could understand....and i wanted a Dr that was compassionate. Dr. Fagan fit the bill. I also talked to some of his patients...to see if they were happy.

Sunday will be 5 months since my surgery....and today for the first time...I wore HEELS to work! I was ecstatic! Dr. Fagan told me at 6 months I will thank him....and by golly...I think he might just be right! So far...everything he has told me has been right on target.

I am also and anesthesiologist assistant, worked in a, what I would now call, a dental mill. A service offered was to put the patient under general anesthesia and do all needed dental work at once. They employed a full time anesthesiologist. Is going under general safe...NO, was it necessary..NO, was the dentistry the best...NO.
However, to them it was the only option as they would not have it done otherwise.

Patients came from all over had a full mouth extractions and new dentures inserted and were out the door in 2 or 3 hours. Prior to that the protocol was to go to the hospital for 2 days. Well, one day a man had his full extractions, denture inserted, had vitals checked and cleared to be sent home. He DiED after arriving at his house.

I guess I just don't understand having a full knee replacement, which is considered major surgery, and walking out the door a few hours later. What is the rush? Is this good medicine? How about the hospital, check the reviews on Healthgrades, and while your at it check the reviews for Dr Ngeuen. If he is so great, why isn't he at Mass General?

10 or 12 surgeries a day? I wouldn't want to be in that assembly line, sorry, but this sounds like a knee mill.


All the major hospitals are now doing robotic knee replacement with a 2 or 3 hospital stay, keeping a check on vitals and blood clots. Me, I'd take a plane back home, have the surgery and stay with family for a week or two and come back for PT in TV.


I would like to hear from zonerboy, anesthesiologist, I would respect his opinion.

KNEE IMPLANT MANUFACTURERS

aRTIFICIAL KNEE JOINT MANUFACTURERS FACE INCREASED SCRUTINY, AND THOUSANDS OF LAWSUITS, OVER RECALLED PRODUCTS AND HIGH FAIRLURE RATES. IN 2007, FOUR OF THE NATIONS LARGEST KNEE IMPLANT MANUFACTURES AGREED TO PAY $310 million in penalties to settle federal charges stating that they PAID SURGEONS TO USE THEIR DEVICES.THE COMPANIES WERE ZIMMER, DEPUY, SMITH NEPHEW,STRYKER AND BIOMET.


ZIMMER MANUFACTURES THREE KNEE COMPONENTS THAT HAVE HIGHER THAN NORMAL FAILURE RATES. ZIMMER RECALLED COMPONENT IN 2010 AFTER REPORTS INDICATED THE LOCKING SCREWS AND STEM EXTENSIONS FAILED TO INTERLOCK CORRECTLY. ZIMMER PAID 1 BILLION TO SETTLE THOUSANDS OF LAWSUITS . THE SETTLEMENT CAME A YEAR AFTER THE DEFECTIVE IMPLANTS WERE RECALLED OVER AN OILY SUBSTANCE THAT HAD BEEN LEFT ON SOME OF THEM DURING THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS.

DEPUY IS ONE OF THE LARGEST JOINT REPLACEMENT MANUFACTURES IN THE WORLD. HOWEVER, THEY HAVE RECALLED SEVERAL KNEE COMPONENTS OVER THE YEARS. THE COMPONENT HAD A HIGHER THAN NORMAL REVISION RATE.

SMITH & NEWTON RECALLED IT OXIMIUM KNEE DEVICES AFTER REPORTS OF PAIN, LOOSENING AND REVISION SURGERIES. IN 2008 THEY RECALLED KNEE MODELS BECAUSE THE IMPLANTS HAD A HIGHER THEN SPECIFIED LEVELS OF IRON. A THIRD RECALL WAS ISSUED IN 2010 FOR THE JOURNEY TIBIAL BASEPLATE KNEE COMPONENT BECAUSE THE BASE PLATES AND INSERTS WERE PRONE TO BREAKING.

STRYKER IN 2012 RECALLED 26,000 OF ITS UNICOMPARTMENTAL KNEE SYSTEMS OVER HIGHER REVISION RATES. THE RECALL CAME SEVERAL YEARS AFTER THE FDA WARNED STRYKER ABOUT PROCEDURAL PROBLEMS AT 2 OF IT JOINT MANUFACTURING FACILITES. IN 2007 WARNING LETTERS TARGETED TWO KNEE COMPONENTS, AND OTHER JOINT COMPONENTS.

STRYKER AND SMITH & NEPHEW HAVE MERGED IN 2015



BIOMET RECALLED ITS FEMORAL COMPONENT BECAUSE IT WAS MISLABELED. IN 2008 THE COMPANY ISSUED ANOTHER RECALL BECAUSE THE SIZING INFORMATION WAS INCORRECT. IN ADDITION, THEY RECALLED SURGIACAL INSTRUMENTS USED TO PERFORM KNEE REPLACEMENTS. THE INSTRUMENTS WERE ASSEMBLED IMPROPERLY.


YOU CAN READ THE FULL INFO AT Knee Replacement