Knee Surgery Complications

About 3 weeks ago I had knee surgery. The Doc did 3 seperate things to my knee. He cleaned out more arthritis, repaired my minicus, and a lateral release. Since the surgery I have developed a hugh lump on the outside part of my knee and my whole leg swelled. My doc said that the only thing that will help all the swelling would be a compression stocking. The stocking helped from my knee down but did nothing from my knee up. The lump is still as big as ever. I saw him today and he said that the lump will go down in time. What I was wondering is if there is any way to know how long this would take? Also the stocking seems to not be doing anything for the lump, do you think I still need to wear it? I know that ultimatly my doc has the last word on this. I'm only looking for suggestions.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

I assume a DVT has been ruled out as a cause of the swelling. Other potential causes of the inflammation include infections, inflammations like bursitis, tendinitis, synovitis etc. Assuming one of the inflammatory causes, it may take 1-4 weeks for the swelling to subside. Aside the compression stocking you may also try elevating the leg, ice-pack application and some OTC NSAIDS for relief.
Hope this helps.

Take care!

[CWDancer]

Thank you for your comment. I do not have any DVT's. The swelling has been helped by the stocking. The lump on my knee has not changed. The swelling is still very big. Also, thank you for giving me a time frame to expect some sort of change in the size.
Thank you,
CWDancer

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi again!

I would suspect this to be one of the inflammations. The swelling around the joint may tend to be less resilient. I would suggest following the recommendations mentioned in the previous posts. Hopefully this should get better in a few weeks. However if the swelling or discomfort remains beyond the time frame, you may consider an evaluation by your orthopedician.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!