If other conservative medications and treatments are not warranted in your condition, or they have not improved your condition significantly, Dr. Suzanna Horovitz may recommend you to undergo a knee replacement surgery, which might improve significantly your quality of life, and allow you to return to an active life and to your daily activities, which you enjoy.

In a knee replacement, the diseased or malformed knee joint is substituted by an artificial joint called an implant, designed to move like a human healthy knee joint.

החלפת ברך
ניתוח החלפת ברך
  • Degenerate/erosive changes lead to gradual destruction of the joint. In time, the knee cartilage is destroyed, broken and an erosion of the underlying bone occurs. The degenerative/erosive changes may occur without any traumatic or inflammatory response.
  • Degenerative changes due to trauma, including fractures, tears of the ligaments and/or of the knee menisci. Due to such trauma, the mechanical mechanism of the knee is destroyed, and consequently the cartilage degenerates over time.
  • Rheumatic/inflammatory disease of the joints. During an inflammatory disease, in which the natural immune system in the patient’s body leads to a self-inflicted injury, degeneration of the cartilage will occur. The result is that degeneration of knee joint bone is formed. During the disease there is an interruption of the blood supply to the bone. As a result the bone suffers necrosis, breaks and interferes with the stabilizing surface of the knee joint cartilage. The disease provokes a severe pain for several months, after which erosive changes may appear following the bone collapse.
החלפת מפרק ברך

The first signs of the need to replace the knee joint are as follows:

  • Knee pain, appearing during activity and even during rest. Limping or stiffness and motion restriction appear.
  • Swelling due to fluid accumulation in the knee, with worsening of the knee pain during knee flexion.
  • Crepitation (a creak) appearing during knee movement, caused by the friction of the worn and torn surfaces of the knee.

Deformities, appearing as “O” or “X” limbs. This phenomenon appears because of the erosion of the cartilage, especially in one of the knee’s compartments. Usually, when the pain becomes unbearable and/or when the disease in the knee prevents from the patient to live an active regular life, an indication may be given to the patient to undergo a knee replacement surgery, or in the appropriate cases, a partial knee replacement surgery (“Half-Knee”).

ניתוח החלפת ברך

The anatomy of the knee is different in each and every one of us, hence it is possible to use a knee implant, customized to the patient’s knee structure.

In this type of surgery, Dr. Suzanna Horovitz uses an artificial knee implant that is not a pre-made “shelf-product” but rather a tailor-made artificial implant, for its produced by a 3D computerized imaging simulating the indicated knee of the patient.

On the basis of the virtual model of the knee of the specific patient, an artificial implant is made, personally customized to the unique size and the shape of the knee of each patient. This special unique implant is placed inside the patient during the surgery.

The advantages of a tailor-made knee replacement

A personalized knee allows Dr. Suzanna Horovitz to plan in advance the course of the procedure and the artificial knee implant ,using a 3D virtual mode and to customize it to the unique size of the patient.

Due to the meticulous personalized match, it is possible to place the cutting sizes during the operation directly over the tibia and the femur bones in the knee joint.

Thanks to the great surgical precision achieved by the method, the surgery itself is less invasive, the time frame of the operation is shorter, and overall there is less bleeding and complications. Above all, in this cutting-edge technique, Dr. Suzanna Horovitz can achieve maximal surgical precision, whilst optimally matching the implant to the knee of the specific patient.

The preparation to a knee replacement surgery begins weeks before the day of the intervention. It is important to maintain and to have the best wellbeing before the knee replacement, since your good health may assist you in the duration of the recovery process.

Herein a typical list for the examination and tasks that Dr. Suzanna Horovitz may ask you to perform in the weeks prior to your surgery date:

  • General physical examination, including a dental checkup.
  • An overview of your current medications.
  • Weight loss.
  • Performance of laboratory exams.
  • An early appointment in the hospital with the anesthesiologist.
  • An appointment with your physiotherapist, in order to prepare a rehabilitation program, to get you moving.
  • An anti-septic wash the day preceding the operation, and in the day of the intervention.

In the days following the knee replacement, Dr. Suzanna Horovitz, the nurses and the physiotherapists will monitor closely your status and your progression.  Although the rehabilitation process from the procedure is tailor-made for each patient, here’s what you may anticipate in the days following the surgery:

After your post-op medical status stabilizes, your physiotherapist will recommend certain exercises for the replaced joint. Gradually the analgesic medications’ dosage will decrease, and you are expected to be more and more mobile.

A few days after the surgery Dr. Suzanna Horovitz will be able to instruct your discharge from the hospital and your return to your home. In the consecutive period Dr. Suzanna Horovitz will monitor your status and your progression, and you will precede the rehabilitative activity using the physiotherapist, that will treat you until your successful recovery from the intervention