Here I go into how I describe to a patient what a total knee replacement is by using a total knee model.  I make it a habit to not only detail all of the potential risks of the surgery but I go into detail when certain risks are higher in an individual patient (such as infection risk in a diabetic).  Explaining realistic expectations up front is extremely important in my opinion to create good patient satisfaction after total knee replacement surgery.  I review with my patients normal expectations such as warmth, night pain, lateral numbness and clicking that can be seen in the early post-operative period.

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