Knee surgery in Stirling

If your knee is causing you pain, you won’t have to wait long to see a talented Consultant Orthopaedic Knee Surgeon at The Kings Park Hospital in Stirling.

Our consultants see everything from knee arthritis to sports injuries of the knee. We offer a full range of treatments, from total knee replacement surgery to keyhole surgery for ligament repairs, meniscal (cartilage) tears and inflammation.

All of our consultants have subspeciality interests within their field. For example, one might be an expert at joint replacements, while another is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair specialist. So, it’s worth checking what problems they specialise in before arranging an appointment.

The hospital serves a wide area across central Scotland, including Forth Valley, Fife, and Tayside. It is easy to access, and parking is free.

Knee surgery is a branch of orthopaedics and relates to surgical procedures on the knee. The sub-speciality is divided into bone and joint surgery and surgery to the soft tissue around the knee, such as ligaments, tendons, and cartilages.

At The Kings Park Hospital, you can access advanced treatments and procedures if non-surgical interventions such as physiotherapy, painkillers and steroid injections haven’t worked or are less effective than they were before.

Our Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeons at the hospital see patients with arthritis, sports injuries and knee pain with no apparent cause.

There have been developments in knee arthritis treatment in recent years. For example, surgeons can perform osteotomy surgery to change the bones’ angles around the knee and preserve the joint. The surgery can substantially delay the need for a total knee joint replacement.

There have also been revolutionary techniques in keyhole surgery (knee arthroscopy) to repair ligaments and cartilages within the knee. The Internal Brace is one of these. Professor Gordon Mackay, one of our Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeons at the hospital, invented it. The brace acts as a seatbelt to protect and strengthen ligaments within the knee that would have replaced in the past. As a result, rehabilitation and movement post-surgery is quicker because there’s less need to immobilise the joint with plaster.

Knee treatments offered include:

• Steroid injections
• Physiotherapy
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection therapy
• Keyhole (arthroscopic) surgery for ligament repairs (with Internal Brace)
• Keyhole (arthroscopic) surgery for cartilage (meniscus) tears
• Partial (unicompartmental) knee replacement
• Knee osteotomy
• Total knee replacement
• Bilateral knee replacement
• Revision knee replacement

We see patients with a referral from a GP, physiotherapist, or other specialists. However, many of our consultants also see those wishing to self-refer.

It is always helpful to ask your GP for a referral letter even if you have self-referred. It gives your Consultant Orthopaedic Knee Surgeon a complete picture of your problem, your general health and any other conditions that could be related.

Consultations can be face to face or carried out remotely via telephone or video. If you come into our clinic to see your consultant in person, we will not keep you waiting. Before you know it, your consultant will introduce themselves and lead you into their consulting room.

Your consultant will start by speaking to you about your medical history, symptoms, and how long they have troubled you. They will then examine your knees. Don’t be surprised if they also do a hip and back examination because some knee pain can come from elsewhere (referred pain).

While you’re moving around, your consultant will look at the position of your knees. They will assess movement within the knee to check for any abnormal actions. They will also feel for tenderness and swelling.

Your consultant will often arrange an x-ray to be carried out by one of our radiographers whilst you are in the hospital. They will then see you after the x-ray to discuss the findings and hopefully provide a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Should your consultant recommend further investigations to aid diagnosis, such as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, we’ll arrange this at our sister hospital, The Ross Hall Hospital, in Glasgow. MRI scans provide detailed images of the knee showing bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles.

Occasionally, your consultant may conclude that you have a condition that another specialist would be better at treating, such as an expert in arthritis and inflammatory disorders (a rheumatologist) or an orthopaedic surgeon with a particular sub-speciality interest. If so, they can refer you.

At Kings Park Hospital, we are delighted to offer daycase knee replacement surgery. This surgery comes with numerous advantages for our patients including reduced risk of infection and blood clots, as well as quicker rehab and recovery times with enhanced post-op mobility, whilst also eradicating the need to stay in hospital overnight.

Mr Gavin Love, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, offers this surgery at Kings Park Hospital.

In December 2023, after having issues with knee pain, sixty-year-old Paul Stone from Perth became the first patient in Scotland to undergo daycase Conformis Knee Replacement surgery at Kings Park Hospital.

As someone who likes to keep himself busy, Paul was a keen rugby player before snowboarding became his main sporting activity. Living such an active lifestyle increased the wear and tear on his knees and more recently, following any physical activity, Paul was left with debilitating pain which gradually got worse over time.

“I’ve had issues with my knee before. When I was a teenager, I played rugby at a high level. Unfortunately, I picked up several injuries which resulted in my knee cartilage being removed. Problems resurfaced once I retired and started to be more active again. That's when the problems got really bad,” Mr Stone said. "Even walking a short distance became unbearable. I had severe cramping pain in my thigh and calf which was difficult to cope with. I was living in pain which contributed to my mood deteriorating. It took a toll on my wife and family and I feel sorry for them as I was pretty grumpy sometimes."

Paul decided he no longer wanted to live in pain and decided to seek specialist advice. After doing some research, he arranged to have an appointment in September 2023 with Mr Gavin Love, a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and leading specialist in the groundbreaking Conformis surgical technique. Mr Love explained, “Conformis knee replacement is a bespoke treatment for osteoarthritis of the knee, which has significant advantages over a standard “off-the-shelf” knee replacement. It replaces the moving parts of the knee joints using the latest technology in scans combined with modern metal fabrication techniques to produce a replacement knee that fits each person perfectly.”

Mr Stone praised Mr Love for the time and effort that was spent during the initial consultation where they devised a treatment plan to relieve his systems.

“Mr Love was immediately friendly and reassuring. He made detailed records and was aware from my initial email to him that I had researched the Conformis technique and thought that this might be the most appropriate to my needs. He agreed and we discussed having this performed under a local anaesthetic (spinal block) and as a daycase procedure,” Mr Stone explained.

Following the initial consultation, a CT scan was arranged. This was forwarded to the manufacturer in Boston to allow production of the new custom replacement knee and patient-specific instrumentation using 3D techniques, which takes around 8 weeks. Mr Stone commented, “Mr Love and I discussed the need for careful preparation before a day-surgery approach could be a viable option. He was aware that I was a regular attendee at a gym and also had a personal trainer who had helped with my previous knee replacement recovery several years previously. With Mr Love’s encouragement, we were able to tailor my training to strengthen my leg in preparation for the operation.”

After the manufacturing process was complete, Mr Love arranged for Mr Stone to have his knee-replacement operation which was conducted on December 4, 2023. Speaking about how he was feeling ahead of surgery, Paul said, “I felt really good on the day of the operation; I was relaxed and confident in my decision. After the operation, I had no discomfort because of the local anaesthetic that had been used. The whole process from start to finish at Kings Park Hospital was first-class, I was kept up to date as things progressed. My pre-operative visits with members of the nursing staff were very easy and the nurses could not have been more friendly or reassuring. A special mention must go to the radiographer who I saw on two occasions and was simply excellent, with such a welcoming and informative approach.”

Commenting on Mr Stone, Mr Love Love said, “Paul was the ideal patient for a daycase Conformis knee replacement; he is highly motivated and had realistic expectations of what he wanted to achieve by having the operation. Conformis knee replacement is a huge leap forward in knee replacement technology. Based on a CT scan of the patient's knee, a 3D model built on this data is used to manufacture a custom-made patient-specific implant, designed to exactly match the size, shape, contours and alignment of the natural knee. The result is a significant improvement in patient satisfaction rate from 80% to 94% compared to a standard "off the shelf" knee replacement. Conformis has been available in the UK for a decade, and the latest results in the UK National Joint Registry are industry leading.”

Following the operation, Mr Stone was only kept in hospital for a few hours before being discharged to continue his recovery at home. He continues to have regular check-ups with his physiotherapist.

“My recovery has been very good, and I was able to move from my crutches to walking sticks after just a week. After another week, I was walking unaided, but carefully, and I was able to drive at three weeks. My physio was surprised by my rapid early recovery and continued to work with my trainer to maintain this momentum. It is now just over nine weeks after the operation, and although I have had a couple of brief setbacks caused by my own lack of patience, I feel a lot more comfortable than I did before the surgery. I still have to be cautious about what activities I take on, and walking downstairs can be uncomfortable.”

Asked what advice he would give to someone who is in a similar position to him, Mr Stone said, “My advice would be to have confidence in the surgeon, the hospital staff and the procedure. I would also strongly advise effective physical preparation with the guidance of a physiotherapist or appropriate trainer as I’m sure this helped with my ability to respond to the post-operative recovery requirements. It is also important to keep up this training activity, even though it takes time and effort to manage this.”

Mr Stone continues to live relatively pain-free following his treatment and is happy with the outcome of his experience. He is set to travel to the French Alps for a skiing holiday in six weeks time and is often out in the Perthshire countryside with his family. Mr Stone remarkably managed to take a four-mile walk, just five weeks after surgery.

Your consultant may recommend some treatments, which they can carry out during your initial consultation. For example, they can administer steroid injections to lessen your pain and reduce inflammation.

Should surgery be recommended, your consultant will explain the procedure in detail, highlight all the pros and cons and cover the expected outcome. You will have time to ask questions, and your consultant will be able to alleviate any anxieties you may have.

At the end of your consultation, your consultant will provide you with contact details for your consultant and the hospital so you can get back in touch should you have any further questions or wish to book in for surgery. We can typically book surgery within a couple of weeks.

Most procedures carried out at Kings Park Hospital are day-case surgery, meaning you can go home later that day. However, joint replacements require between one and three overnight stays. You’ll have a private room with an en-suite bathroom, TV and WIFI.

After surgery, your surgeon will see you before you go home and arrange any follow-up appointments. You’ll also see one of our on-site physiotherapists who will ensure you’re doing the correct movements and exercises to help your recovery.

We offer procedures with the latest inventions like the Internal Brace that have minimal recovery time to ensure you return to daily life and sport quickly.

You can often see a highly skilled Consultant Orthopaedic Knee Surgeon within 48 hours so that you can get on the path to recovery straightaway.

We provide sympathetic and efficient after-care, including wound checks and stitch removal by our diligent and caring nurses, follow-up appointments with your consultant, and physiotherapy to aid your recovery.