What are the risks of having a hip or knee joint replacement?
Risks of joint replacements, although rare, can sometimes be rather significant. The most concerning course would be infections, wound healing problems, deep vein thrombosis (blood clot), pulmonary embolus (blood clot to the lung), stroke, cardiac or heart problems, difficulty with the joint itself as far as dislocation, leg length differences, difficulty with anesthesia or medications in the hospital. Also included, although extremely rare, is death. Again as mentioned, these risks are quite rare and generally 96-98% of patients go through surgical intervention without complications, however there is still always some risks with surgical interventions..
