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Still in pain after orthopaedic surgery in Sweden
This page is for you if you have had an orthopaedic operation in Sweden and the pain has not gone — or has changed into something you were not prepared for. It is written around the question that is actually answerable: what is happening now, and what are the options from here.
Quick answer
Persistent pain after orthopaedic surgery does not by itself mean the operation failed. It can reflect normal healing on a slower curve, rehabilitation that stalled, a second source of pain that the first problem was masking, or a technical issue with the procedure — and those lead to entirely different next steps. An independent assessment looks at your current symptoms and examination, the operative report describing what was actually done, imaging before and after, and how rehabilitation went. Further surgery is not the usual answer, and where it is proposed it is a separate decision from the first.
The question worth asking
Patients in this situation often arrive with a question shaped like "was the operation done wrong". It is an understandable question and a poor starting point, because it narrows an assessment that ought to stay open. The productive version is: given where things are now, what is producing this pain, and what are the realistic options?
That framing is not politeness. It changes what gets examined. A review that starts from suspicion of the surgeon looks at the operation; a review that starts from the current symptoms looks at the operation and the rehabilitation, the alternative pain sources, and the things that were never assessed because a clear surgical target was already in view.
The document to bring
The operative report — operationsberättelse — is the record of what was actually done and what the surgeon found once inside. It frequently contains detail that never made it into the summary you were given, and it is often not included in the notes available digitally. Request it specifically, by name. Any specialist assessing post-operative pain will want it, and getting it in advance saves a consultation spent ordering documents.
How Andrabedomning.se fits in
Andrabedomning.se is an independent Swedish patient guidance service. You describe your situation in a request — in English — and a person reads it and replies, normally within one working day, with information about relevant specialist contact. If we cannot help, you get an explanation of why and where to turn instead. We do not diagnose or provide medical care. Records go directly to the care provider, never to us.
Sending a request is free and commits you to nothing. If we can coordinate a suitable specialist contact, two amounts are disclosed to you in writing before anything is booked: our coordination fee (samordningsavgift), which is our only source of revenue, and the specialist's fee, which is set by the care provider and paid directly to them. We take no commissions or referral fees from specialists or clinics. How it works in full →
Andrabedomning.se coordinates the contact. The medical assessment is made by the specialist and care provider you choose.
Frequently asked questions about pain after surgery
How long is it normal to have pain after orthopaedic surgery?
It depends entirely on the procedure, and the honest answer is that the expected curve should have been given to you before the operation. What is generally true is that recovery is measured in months rather than weeks for joint replacement and most reconstructive surgery, and that improvement is rarely linear. If your pain is following a course nobody described to you, that gap is itself worth taking to a specialist.
Does persistent pain mean the operation failed?
Not by itself, and framing it that way tends to narrow the assessment prematurely. Pain after surgery can reflect normal healing, rehabilitation that stalled, a second source of pain that was masked before the operation, or a technical issue with the procedure. Those lead to entirely different next steps, which is why the useful question is what is happening now rather than what went wrong then.
Should I go back to the surgeon who operated, or someone else?
Start with the operating surgeon in most cases: they know what was done and what they found, which is information no one else has. Seek an independent assessment when you have been back, the answer has not changed, and your symptoms have not either. That is not disloyalty — it is the point at which a fresh reading of the whole picture has something to add.
What will an independent assessment actually look at?
Your current symptoms and examination findings; the operative report describing what was done and found; imaging before and after; how rehabilitation went and whether it was completed; and whether anything else could be producing the pain. The operative report matters more than patients expect — request it, because it is often not included in the notes you can read digitally.
Is more surgery the likely answer?
Not usually, and an assessment that starts from the assumption that it is has skipped a step. A large share of post-operative pain problems are addressed without further surgery. Where revision surgery is on the table, it is a different decision from the first operation — generally more complex, with a different risk profile — and deserves its own careful consideration.
It has been over a year. Is it too late to ask?
No. Time reduces some options and opens others, but it does not close the question. What changes with time is that the assessment leans more on your current function and less on the immediate post-operative picture. If you have adapted your life around a limitation nobody has re-examined, that is a reasonable thing to bring to a specialist however long it has been.
Sources
- 1177 — Skelett, leder och muskler — general descriptions of musculoskeletal conditions and post-operative recovery expectations.
- Patient Act (patientlagen 2014:821), chapter 9, section 1 — the right to choose a publicly funded outpatient provider in any region for a further assessment.
- 1177 — Din journal — access to your own records, including the operative report.
Editorially produced by Andrabedomning.se from the primary sources above. Sources last checked: 4 August 2026.
Related pages
- Orthopaedic second opinion in Sweden
The routes and what an assessment can settle.
- When revision surgery is proposed
A second operation on the same joint is its own decision.
- Unsure about an MRI result
Post-operative imaging is harder to read than pre-operative imaging.
- Getting your records — including the operative report
The document that matters most here, and the one hardest to get.
Pain that has not settled after an operation?
Describe your situation in a few sentences and tell us which assessment or recommendation you have already received. Sending a request is free. If we can coordinate a suitable specialist contact, our coordination fee and the specialist's separate fee are disclosed in writing before you decide whether to book.
Describe your orthopaedic case
In an emergency, call 112. For non-urgent medical advice, call 1177.