What a first visit involves.
Most people arrive with two questions: what is wrong, and do I need an operation. The first visit is designed to answer both, or to say exactly what is needed to answer them.
- Day 0You get in touchContact Mediclinic to arrange an appointment with Dr Catteeuw at Parkview Hospital. Mention any existing scans or reports when booking.
- Visit 1, around 30 minutesConsultationHistory, examination of both knees, review of any imaging you bring. If you need an MRI it is arranged at Parkview, often the same day.
- Same visit or a short follow-upDiagnosis and optionsYou leave knowing what is damaged and what the options are, including doing nothing. If surgery is one option, you also hear what happens if you wait.
- Days to weeksDecisionYou decide, in your own time. Physiotherapy often starts now regardless, because a knee that goes into surgery strong comes out of it faster.
- One daySurgeryMost ligament, meniscal and cartilage procedures are day case or one night. Osteotomy and replacement are usually one to three nights.
- Six weeks to nine months, depending on the procedureRehabilitationA written protocol shared with your physiotherapist, with milestones rather than fixed dates. Review appointments at two weeks, six weeks, three months and then as needed.
Second opinions
If you have already been advised to have surgery elsewhere, bring the imaging and the proposed plan. A second opinion is not a criticism of the first surgeon. It is a check that the operation on the table is the right one for your knee and your goals, and sometimes it confirms exactly that.
Not every knee needs surgery
A meaningful share of consultations end with a rehabilitation plan and no operation. Where surgery is recommended, the reason is explained in terms of what will happen to the knee without it, not in terms of what the operation can do.
How long recovery takes, by procedure.
The honest answer is a range. This is what the ranges look like side by side.