Am I eligible for an outpatient knee replacement?

Outpatient knee replacement surgery is now very common across the U.S. and right here in Richmond, VA. Many of the replacements are performed at Ambulatory Surgery Centers that don’t have overnight hospital beds. At G2 we perform these surgeries at St. Francis Medical Center, which gives us the option of keeping patients overnight if there is an issue. 
To be eligible for an Outpatient Total or Partial Knee Replacement, you should be in good general health without uncontrolled heart or lung disease, kidney failure, COPD and diabetes with an HgbA1c <7.5. Also, an elevated BMI (Body Mass Index) is associated with complications, so your BMI needs to be less than 37 (use an online calculator like this one from NIH to determine your BMI). Finally, you will need someone staying with you at home for at least 1 week after surgery. You will also need someone that can drive you to physical therapy starting 3 days after surgery and then 2 times per week until you are able to drive (usually 2-3 weeks after surgery).