When a surgeon uses smaller incisions and makes fewer muscle cuts to replace a knee, the procedure is called minimally invasive. While you can expect postoperative pain, your surgeon,
working with us, can help you manage and minimize it very effectively. But it is important to realize that you have had very significant knee surgery!
Your doctor will undoubtedly prescribe pain medications following surgery. Pain control is important for your comfort, and without it, you would find it difficult to begin your physical therapy, which is crucial. Within 24 hours after your minimally invasive knee replacement surgery, you will likely be able to get in and out of bed and use a walker to navigate a long hallway. You might not even have to stay in the hospital overnight.
Physical therapy usually begins within 48 hours after surgery and continues for months. You will have home physical therapy until you can drive to outpatient appointments. And you’ll be climbing stairs and walking with a cane or crutches within a few days. As your therapy progresses, your discomfort will lessen, and your medication doses can decrease.
Because participating fully in post-surgical physical therapy is so important, do not be tempted to try to prove to yourself, or anyone else, how “tough” you are by tolerating pain. By taking the medications prescribed by your doctor as needed, you will have a more comfortable physical therapy experience and resume an active lifestyle more quickly.
