When Is Knee Surgery Not Appropriate?

Even though knee surgery may be an effective way to minimize or eliminate knee pain, your doctor may decide that knee replacement surgery is not appropriate for you. Some reasons could include:

• You have an infection or a history of infection
• You don’t have enough bone, or the bone is not strong enough to support a new knee
• You have injured nerves in your knee area
• You have injured or nonfunctional knee muscles
• Your knee is severely unstable
• Your bones are not fully grown or developed
• You have noticeable bone loss or a severe decrease in bone mass (osteoporosis)
• Your knee joint has been previously fused and is stable, functional, and painless
• You have rheumatoid arthritis and active/history of skin lesions (due to increased risk of infection)