Is knee replacement surgery recommended in case of cold and cough?
Patient: I am due to have a total knee replacement tomorrow. I have a cold at present which is resolving slowly although I have started to cough ove the last 3 hours. I am 68 and otherwise in good health. BP 145/85. Cholesterol 5.1. Should I go ahead and have the surgery? Doctor: Hi,  Knee replacements are done under spinal or epidural anaesthesia,cough and cold doesn't pose a problem for these type of anaesthesia but as a precaution we avoid doing replacement while the patient is having any sort of respiratory infection, so as to prevent the situation in which we need to intubate the patient with respiratory issues in case of complications arises. Secondly, there are high chances of lodging of infective agent at knee implant so it is always better to postpone surgery till the time infection subsides.  Take care. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.  Regards, Dr. Rohan Shanker Tiwari, Orthopedic Surgeon