Risks of Total Knee Replacement Surgery

• Safe - 90% complication free
• Reliable - relieves pain in 80-85% of people
• Complications
  • Blood clots (deep vein thrombosis and/or lung clots)
  • Persistent pain
  • Infections
  • Fractures
  • Medical complications
• Catastrophic complications do occur
  • Death
  • Infection
  • Nerve or artery damage and paralysis of the leg

Complications are an inevitable reality of any surgical procedure. Fortunately, total joint surgery is a safe operation and about 90% of patients recover without significant problems. The list of possible complications is quite long (the above list is not complete), but it does not mean that they happen often. The risk of a serious, life-threatening complication, or such that would lead to a persistent problem with significant life-long implications and a disability, should be less than 5%.