Knee revision surgery is a procedure that is performed when an initial knee replacement no longer functions as intended. During the procedure, the previous knee prosthetic implant is replaced with a new one with the goal of restoring function to the knee and alleviating any pain and instability.
The procedure is done by attaching a metal or plastic prosthetic capped at the ends of the bones that join the knee, hence allowing them to move against each other. The knee revision can either be a total replacement where the prosthesis is completely replaced or partially done by replacing only one implant.
Normally, a total knee replacement is meant to last for many years. In most cases, a knee revision surgery is performed on younger patients to clean the surface of the bone and reattach the initial prosthesis or replace it with a new one.