Suggest Ways To Manage Weight Loss After Knee Replacement Surgery

Posted on Tue, 24 May 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 24 May 2016 Answered on

Mon, 27 Jun 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a healthy 85 yr old man who had a knee replacement two months ago (excellent recovery). During 2 week rehab in excellent hospital, I started losing weight. Dropped from 160 to 130 lbs. My PCP did many tests. Only showed thyroid deficiency. Prescribed strong med, with little benefit. He considered other things and finally gave up.

Surgery recovery has been excellent.

Pumping the calories into me with no effect.

Answered by Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Supportive care

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for asking

I read your question and i understand your concern. With all the work up normal and clear, significant weight loss may be attributed to stressful phase of surgery and nothing to worry about if no other symptoms. I am happy you recovered from surgery good and every thing turned out to be good. Low thyroid hormones does not correlate with weight loss. It could be age related factor as well. If the doctor has done all tests and found nothing then no worries. Just increase your caloric intake to 3000 calories and above and see if it helps. if you feel lethargic or weight still declines, get a second opinion to find out the possible cause.

I hope it helps. Take good care of yourself and dont forget to close the discussion please.
Regards
Khan

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar