A knee fusion....need help.....please... - Knee & Hip Problems Message Board

barbara5121960 · 11-01-2005, 11:12 PM

Hello,

I am brand new on this site and I have many questions, but the first one is:

There anyone out there that has had thier knee fused?

I had a knee replacement last year that developed a blood clot that lead to an infection in my leg and bones. I ended up losing my tendon and new knee replacement. The doctor then had a muscle flap done to fill in the space where my knee was. This muscle was taken from the calf of my leg and then I had to have a skin graft done. I now have a metal rod that runs through the bones in my leg with some kind of some type of thing in the middle. Learning to adjust to this has been difficult for me and of coarse my leg is shorter now. I was doing really good until I had a set back. I got a compression fracture in two places in my back and I also hurt my neck. My back is weak so I am just now starting all over with stepping again. Is there someone out there who can give me some advice that knows what I am going through.......
Please help.
God bless everyone who reads this,

Barbara

steve6n1 · 01-02-2006, 02:53 PM

Hi-this is my first post to the forum. I saw some old posts from a Catherinenoknee who had had multiple tkrs done and infected and removed and finally had an arthrodesis (fusion). She was very unhappy with the result, and you might find her old posts in the May 2003 era. Anyway, I have lost two tkrs in my right knee due to infection, and currently have the spacer blocks and am waiting six months or so to try a third tkr. They have mentioned that I might
be a candidate for fusion should this fail, but I am six feet tall, and a fused leg is a cumbersome thing when traveling, and getting up from chairs etc. etc. Your post is a couple of months old, so I don't know where you stand now, but it looks like keeping some degree of ability to bend the knee is a big help in getting by. Hope you are doing ok at this point. Steve

mslea · 01-04-2006, 07:06 PM

I have had a fused knee for 20 YEARS! It has been awesome. I am VERY active. I am 42 yrs old and was diagnosed with bone cancer when I was 22. I litterally can do anything I want. I coach basketball at church and go 1000 miles an hour. It is my right knee and I just throw it to the side to drive with my left. I have no hip or back problems. It is a little bit shorter than the other leg but i asked them to do that to help me swing it. Recently I started having pain with it so I have been on crutches since september (still doesn't slow me down). The doctors are talking about more bone grafting vs amputation and I am really confused on what to do. I have done so well for 20 years!!