Knee replacements in Haemophiliacs

Knee replacements are one of the most common surgeries today. Today, we will shed some light on knee replacements in patients with haemophilia.

What is haemophilia?

Haemophilia is a rare condition which affects the blood's ability to clot. When we hurt ourselves and there is a wound, the blood oozing out stops within a minute. This is called clotting. The sooner the blood clots, the better it is for the body, as we don't lose much blood. However, in patients with heamophilia, this clotting takes a lot of time !

Imagine blood flowing for a long time from a wound anywhere on your body!

How do we know it is haemophilia?

Usually it is diagnosed medically by blood tests. To make it simple for you to understand, these are the few symptoms:

1. Unexplained and excessive bleeding from cuts or injuries, or after surgery or dental work.

2. Many large or deep bruises.

3.Pain, swelling or tightness in your joints.

Now, let's address the topic of knee replacements in patients with haemophilia!

Why do these patients need replacements? When do they need replacements?

They have bleeding in joints multiple times. Due to the repetitive bleeding in the joint, the joints are damaged at an early age. This leads to severe disabilities in young age like deformities in knees and difficulty in walking. Hence they are require to replace these damaged joints to be able to carry out their functions normally.

before and after surgery physiotherapy is a must! Before surgery if the muscle strength is good because of exercises, regaining activities after surgery becomes easy. After knee replacement, they require physiotherapy to attain normal ranges and strength for rehabilitation into daily life!

Dr. Sukanya Dandekar (PT)
Neuro Physiotherapist 

Rehab Station, Pune