Optimal timing for the second surgery in staged bilateral total knee arthroplasty: a patient-determined interval approach.

Summary: Getting both knees replaced? You might wonder how long to wait between your first and second surgery. Doctors looked at over 500 patients who had their knees replaced one after the other. They found that letting the patient choose the timing works just fine. However, if you wait more than a year to get the second knee fixed, your recovery for that second surgery might be much easier! Patients who waited over a year had shorter hospital stays, less bleeding, and needed less pain medicine compared to their first surgery.