When can I go home after surgery?
Typically, patients who undergo Total Knee Arthroplasty may require a 1-2 night hospital stay but some patients can go home the same day as their surgery. Each patient recovers differently but all must reach the following goals before being discharged home:
- Vital signs stable (Blood pressure, heart rate, Temperature, Respirations)
- Ability to get from the bed to the bathroom and back to the bed with or without a walker.
- Ability to walk 50 feet down the hall and back.
- Ability to urinate.
- Nausea and/or vomiting controlled.
- No medication interactions or adverse side effects.
- Ability to tolerate eating and drinking.
- Pain reasonably controlled with Oral Medications.
- Diabetic patients must have their blood sugars well controlled.