Leg Blood Flow + Knee Replacement?

Question

My mother had a vein stripped from her leg a few years ago and now her blood flow is messed up and she has a lot of swelling. Now she's facing a knee replacement (not related) of the same leg. Her diabetic doctor worries though and has her convinced that if something goes wrong with knee replacement that they will have to amputate her leg due to the blood flow already being messed up.

Mom sees the surgeon tomorrow but fears his answers are biased since he specializes in knee replacements. She worries he'll tell her it's not a real risk even if it is.

Anyone know about this? or experience similar?

Answer 1

Arterial blood flow (opposed to venous) is more important when determining the viability of an arm or leg. Your mother has two issues of concern: diabetes, which affect peripheral circulation and healing times, and a damaged vein from stripping. Usually stripped veins are very superficial, and don't affect overall leg circulation that much. Leg grafts taken for coronary bypass surgery are more of a concern.

If your mother is smart, she will have a doppler ultrasound study done in the leg to be operated on prior to surgery. This will evaluate the compentancy of the circulation in that leg and whether it is a good candidate without vascular surgery intervention.

As far as the orthopedic surgeon replacing the knee goes, if your mother has bad circulation in that leg he/she will not do the surgery. Why? Because they want a good outcome to the operation too. Replacing a knee only to lose a leg would be a waste of time on their part.

Given your mother's diabetes, I would be more concerned with overall wound healing (diabetics are prone to infections).

In any case, if she is unsure, get an ultrasound and consult a vascular specialist prior to the knee op.

Answer 2

The vein stripping has nothing to do with whether or not she'll need an amputation.

Unfortunately, diabetics often have bad ARTERIAL flow to the leg. If that was the case, then knee surgery could be risky.

It wouldn't hurt for her to have a test of her leg circulation pre-op.