Allergic to knee replacement? Uncommon, but people can be allergic to the metal in the implant.
Extremely weak and in terrible pain, a 56 year-old patient traveled from her home in the Philadelphia area to New York City to see me at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). Diane came in for a consultation after a nine-month ordeal that started after a double knee replacement at another hospital. Suffering from severe arthritis, she opted for the surgery after learning from her research that the procedure has a very high success rate in eliminating pain and restoring mobility. Diane chose to have the operation on both knees at the same time. But months later, instead of getting better, her knees still ached. And now the pain was spreading throughout her body to her shoulders, arms and legs. She got weaker and weaker. Four months after knee replacement, she could no longer get dressed without assistance, pick up a half-gallon of milk or turn over in bed. She says she became a different person -- terribly weak, in constant pain and very unhappy. It turned out she was allergic to