Industry News
Retired ski racer Lindsey Vonn has updated her followers on her post-op recovery following her recent knee replacement surgery. The 39-year-old former ski racer had a total knee arthroplasty (TKA), which is the medical term for a knee replacement surgery last week, April 8. Vonn has shared videos of herself re-learning how to walk with the titanium implants on Friday, April 12, just four days after the surgery.
During a TKA, parts of the damaged knee are replaced with implants, in Vonn’s case, titanium implants are softer and a bit more flexible than cobalt chrome implants. She had the preparatory work done for the knee replacement in October 2023 by Thomas Hacket, MD, who is a world-renowned orthopedic surgeon from Vail, Colorado. The surgery was performed by James Roche, MD, from Florida, who is a specialist in knee replacement surgeries.
While it may be surprising to see Vonn back on her feet so soon after the surgery, it is recommended by doctors with experience in TKA in young, fit people to start rehabilitation efforts as soon as possible as early rehab has shown to have the best outcome with regards to maximizing range of motion.
While recovery from TKA is on average between 6-12 months, this figure is of course based on the average patient and the median age of TKA patients is 65.9 years. So the majority of experiences of post-op recovery come from patients between 50-70 years of age. Only 13% of TKA patients are typically under 50 according to a study using data from the University of Iowa Orthopedics Joint Replacement Registry. In addition, more than a third of patients under 50 who needed either hip or knee replacement were suffering from obesity, hardly criteria that would describe Lindsey Vonn. Young, fit patients tend to have much better and faster recovery experiences, however the recommendations around rehabilitation and resuming high-impact sports from surgeons vary as the experience with TKAs within a younger, athletic demographic, is still limited and evolving.
Vonn’s surgery comes after a slew of knee injuries during her career. In 2006 the Alpine athlete tore her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) during a training crash in Colorado. In 2007 she tore her ACL again during the World Cup Super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. She suffered a third ACL tear in 2013 during the Super-G event at the World Championships in Schladming, Austria. She sprained her Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) during a training crash at Copper Mountain, Colorado. She fractured her left knee during a super-G race in Soldeu, Andorra in 2016, and then sprained her Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL) during a training run at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Hopefully, the TKA will enable Vonn to enjoy many more decades of recreational skiing. Vonn reports going off pain medication just four days post-op and is appearing to be slowly gaining confidence and strength, so we hope she can return to gentle skiing by the next ski season.
