It’s ‘Move More Month’: El Paso surgeon discusses knee replacement

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- In honor of April being "Move more month," ABC-7 looks at the factors associated with knee pain and how El Pasoans are turning to knee replacement surgery.

According to the Mayo Clinic, an aging population is driving the demand for knee replacement surgery globally.

“When these patient come to clinic, they usually come with diffuse knee pain, swelling, decreased motion. some people even report popping, clicking and catching on their knees," said M.D., William Arroyo, El Paso Orthopaedic Surgery group.

Along with these symptoms, Dr. Arroyo said it can also start affecting your hip, even your lower back.

He said treatment for this condition includes physical therapy and or surgery. He adds he recommends a replacement after seeing deformity and destruction of the joint.

“What the surgery entails is basically just making specific cuts on both the femur and the shin bone, which is the tibia, that way we remove all the damage of the knee and the arthritic process," he said. "After we do the cuts, we put metal implants, in this case, a femur implant. and we have another implant on the tibia, this one has a plastic in the middle, and that's how we reconstitute the joint."

After about 3 months of recovery, Dr. Arroyo said patients can be expected to return to their full activities.