Most of us are afraid of surgery, because we associate surgery with intense pain. Hence it is natural for you to know the intensity of pain after the surgery. Generally for knee surface replacement epidural anaesthesia is preferred which is continued for pain relief in the days following surgery. Due to this advanced technique, the pain after the surgery is such that it does not require you to take strong pain relieving medication.

Epidural anaesthesia is a technique in which a very thin plastic tube is inserted in your back . Through this tube the anaesthetic agents are injected during Surgery. After the surgery, this tube is connected to a computerised infusion pump, which controls the dose of medication given to you for relief of pain. The care of this equipment will be taken by the concerned anaesthetist.

The advantages of Epidural Anaesthesia are :

• It is safe in the elderly.
• It is safe for people who have Diabetes / Hypertension / Heart ailment, etc.
• The patient is awake during surgery if he/she so desires or can be sedated if required.
• This anaesthesia is converted to mild dose to control pain after surgery. This is continued for 3 days after the surgery.
• Oral feeds can be started within 3 hours of surgery.
• Strong pain relieving medicines which cause indigestion, acidity and drowsiness are avoided.
• Since the pain relief is adequate by this technique patient can be put to early exercise program using CPM machines.