A total knee replacement is one of the few injuries the AMA Guides rate by surgical result: the schedule asks how the replacement turned out — good, fair, or poor — and prices each answer. The engine converts the Guides’ lower-extremity values through the schedule’s own ladder and runs the pipeline; here’s the whole grid.
Rated by result
Under 17.05.10.08 (total knee replacement, diagnosis-based estimate), the Guides’ point system grades the outcome: a good result converts to 15% WPI, a fair result to 20%, and a poor result — pain, instability, poor motion — to 30% WPI. The grade lives in the P&S report’s scoring, which makes the med-legal exam’s range-of-motion and stability findings the whole ballgame.
The money table
Final PD and total indemnity at age 37–41, 2026 injury, maximum PD rate, before apportionment:
| WPI | Clerical · 111 | Custodian · 340 | Carpenter · 380 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good · 15% | 17% · $17,545 | 23% · $26,245 | 28% · $34,437.50 |
| Fair · 20% | 24% · $27,695 | 31% · $40,020 | 36% · $50,170 |
| Poor · 30% | 36% · $50,170 | 45% · $68,440 | 51% · $80,982.50 |
The carpenter draws variant I — kneeling, climbing, and load-bearing are exactly what a prosthetic knee limits — while the same fair result rates 24% at a desk. Meniscectomies (17.05.10.04) and ligament reconstructions rate on their own diagnosis-based lines, usually below replacement territory; the knee-injury page prices the pre-replacement spectrum.
The revision is the long tail
Prosthetic knees wear out. For a worker injured at 45, the medical award realistically holds a revision (or two), and pricing that stream is where settlement negotiations are actually won. Expect the §4663 arthritis apportionment fight in every file — replacements happen on degenerative knees, and the defense will put a percentage on that history.
What this table can’t tell you
Wages below the maximum scale the dollars down, a bad other knee (compensatory overuse) can become its own claim, and TD through a replacement recovery runs months against the §4656 clock. Companion pages: back · knee · shoulder · neck · hip · wrist · ankle · elbow · foot · hand · carpal tunnel · hearing · eye · amputation · fusion · rotator cuff. Estimates for informational use; not legal or medical advice.
Rate your knee right here
Same engine as the tables above — pick your occupation and age, slide the WPI from the report, and carry it into the full calculator when you’re ready.