Knee replacement

[Naggy nanny]

My Mum has Alzheimer’s and is due to have a knee replacement. I am concerned this may affect her cognitive function and cause further deterioration in her cognitive function. Thoughts anyone?

 

[karaokePete]

Hello and welcome @Naggy nanny.

I can't say much other than that this could trigger a downturn in any dementia. However, the downturn may not be permanent and I assume the hospital have weighed the benefits against the risks before deciding to proceed with surgery.

I am given to understand that knee replacements can greatly improve mobility and quality of life.

I hope you have the time to take a good look around the site as it is a goldmine for information. When I first joined I read old threads for information but then found the AS Publications list and the page where a post code search can be done to check for support services in ones own area. If you are interested in these, clicking the following links will take you there

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/publications-factsheets-full-list

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/find-support-near-you

You will see that there are Factsheets that will help with things like getting care needs assessments, deciding the level of care required and sorting out useful things like Wills, Power of Attorney etc.

Now that you have found us I hope you will keep posting as the membership has vast collective knowledge and experience.

 

[Bunpoots]

My dad had a knee replacement some years ago. We didn’t realise at the time but he was showing very early symptoms of dementia. I can’t say that I noticed a downturn after the operation but he struggled with the post-operation exercises.

Now I realise that it was probably because of the dementia but at the time I thought he was just not trying hard enough!!

It did cure his knee pain though.

 

[Sirena]

My mother had a hip replacement last summer - she fell and broke her hip so there was no choice but to have surgery. I had heard about the possibility of serious deterioration after hospital stays/general anaesthetic so expected the worst, but actually I don't think it made any difference to my mother. She was very sleepy and confused for the first four or five days but then seemed to be okay, ten days later she returned to the care home and was 'back to normal'. She is late mid-stage and has deteriorated over the past year, but gradually, not suddenly after the surgery.