Preparing for Surgery

Preparing for knee surgery

Good preparation makes a real difference to how your operation goes and how quickly you recover afterwards. Patients who come to surgery fit, well informed and organised at home tend to spend less time in hospital and return to normal activity sooner.

These pages cover what to expect in the weeks before your knee operation: the checks and appointments you will have, medicines you may need to stop and when, what to bring with you on the day, and how to get your home ready for coming back. There is also advice on exercises worth starting now, before your operation, which is one of the few things known to improve recovery that is entirely within your control.

Most of this applies whichever knee operation you are having. Anything specific to your procedure is on the relevant page under Patient education.

This information supports the conversations you have with your surgical team — it does not replace them. If anything here differs from what you have been told in clinic, follow your team's advice.