My brother had knee replacement on Dec 1st. Did all the therapy and did well for 3 months. He has had 3 episodes of terrible swelling of the knee and leg and also terrible pain. Drs don t seem to know what is causing all this. He has had to go on sick leave(67yrs old). He s been given steroids which brings down the swelling, etc. But it flares up again. He also has had a bakers cyst on the same leg. His dr will not drain anything due to infection risk. He is very frustrated. Seems that any fluid goes to that knee joint. Do you have any suggestions. He has been resting and icing it a lot through these times.
Hi, Thank you for providing the brief history of your brother. A thorough musculoskeletal assessment is advised. As your brother had undergone TKR, and he is having bakers cyst, why the cyst was ignored during the plan of the surgery. Usually, due to the formation of the cyst, there is venous insufficiency, I mean, the back flow of blood to the heart is restricted from the lower limbs. Now since everything is done and steroid is also failed, I will have something to work out here. I have seen, many patients with OA knee and bakers cyst. Now this bakers' cyst can be got rid of through exercise and the venous insufficiency can be corrected as well. So, let's come to the point here. Your brothers age is 67, so we can expect his metabolism to be slow and the venous Chat Doctor.  Getting the proper exercise done should help reduce the cyst and also the swelling too. The exercises to perform are -1. Sit and stand in a chair - 100 times Begin this exercise by performing 25 and then a non-stop to 100 when endurance improves. Having a sit adjustment is needed. Now what is his ROM of the operated knee is to be understood. If he has achieved 130 degrees of ROM of the operated knee than it will be good here.2. Achieve 130 degrees ROM of the operated knee, as this is very important for the joint Stability and mobility.3. Outperform squat up to 50 in one go if the ROM is up to 130 degrees. Also, while performing Squat one has to hold the window or the railing to take the assistance. In my clinical practice I have seen Bakers cyst, swelling of lower limbs and OA issues to resolve with simple and accurate exercises. I wish your brother a good healthRegardsJay In