Avoiding Complications after Surgery
By following your health team’s instructions, you’ll minimize the potential for blood clots during the first several weeks of your recovery.
Blood clots
Notify your doctor immediately if you have any of the warning signs of possible blood clots.
Warning signs of possible blood clots in your arm or leg include:
- Increasing pain in your arm or leg
- Tenderness or redness above or below your elbow or shoulder
- Increasing swelling in your calf, ankle or foot
- Sudden increased shortness of breath
- Sudden onset of chest pain
- Localized chest pain with coughing
Again, it’s very important that you notify your doctor immediately if you develop any warning signs of blood clots.
Infection
Another possible complication from surgery is infection. The most common causes of infection after joint replacement surgery are from bacteria that enter the blood stream during dental procedures and skin or urinary tract infections. These bacteria can lodge around the prosthesis.
Following your surgery, you may need to take antibiotics prior to dental work including cleanings or any surgical procedure that could allow bacteria to enter your bloodstream. For patients with normal immune system, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Dental Association recommend antibiotics before dental work for two years after total joint replacement surgery.
Notify your physician or other care provider immediately if you develop any of the following warning signs of a possible joint replacement infection:
- Persistent fever (higher than 100 degrees)
- Shaking chills
- Increasing redness, tenderness, swelling of the wound
- Drainage from the wound
- Drainage from the wound
- Increasing joint pain with both activity and rest
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