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welcome to cck live today we'll be discussing VA disability compensation benefits for knee
conditions and knee pain knee conditions are extremely common among veterans and
last year's annual benefits report or VA sided limitation of flexion of the knee as
one of the most commonly claimed VA disabilities veterans who develop a knee condition can receive
service connection for that condition through multiple different paths uh first it could be
through direct service connection where the KNE condition was directly caused by service
or perhaps secondary service connection where the KNE condition was either caused
or aggravated by another service connected disability and then finally just aggravation
generally where a veteran might have a pre existing knee condition that was made worse
by their service if a veteran receives service connection for their knee disability VA will
assign a disability rating which can range from zero to 100% depending on the type of
knee condition VA ratings for a knee pain will depend on the type of knee injury the
severity of the diagnosed knee condition the knee's range of motion and the pain
that it causes these factors can determine the diagnostic criteria used to assign the
rating knee related conditions are typically rated under 38 CFR
4.71a some of the most common are limitation of flexion of the knee limitation of extension of
the knee instability of the knee Anis of the knee total knee Replacements and partial knee
Replacements regarding total knee Replacements under diagnostic code 5055 veterans are rated at
100% for the first four months following a KNE replacement surgery surgery if the entire knee
joint was was replaced by prosthesis following those four months the veteran attends a CNP exam
to determine the severity of their remaining symptoms then a new rating is assigned based
on those symptoms and again following that four-month period veterans with weakness or
severe pain will receive up to a 60% reading while the minimum rating for a child knee replacement is
30% let's review some more common knee conditions and their ratings first is limitation of flexion
of the knee the rating for this condition is based on range of motion measurements and is
rated between 0 and 30% next is limitation of extension of the knee meaning your knee cannot
straighten all the way a VA rates this condition between 0o and 50% also based on range of motion
measurements and then there's ankis of the knee another common disability which means stiffening
and immobility VA rates veterans between 30 and 60% and then finally there is instability of the
knee uh this means that the knee has too much motion from side to side or regular dislocates
and VA rates instability of the knee anywhere between zero and 30% other important Concepts
veterans should know about need disability benefits are va's painful motion rule the
bilateral Factor rule the functional loss Rule and the major joint rule so the painful motion
rule states that veterans should be afforded a 10% St rating even if they do not meet all
diagnostic code criteria for a limited range of motion but can otherwise show they have Painful
motion indicators of painful motion could be function loss interference with sitting and
standing pain during motion and fatigue ability if VA does not take these factors into consideration
veterans may want to consider appealing for a higher disability rating the bilateral Factor
rule applies when both of the veterans knes are affected VA recognizes that if a veteran has a
disability that affects both knee joints the ability to function on a daily basis will be
even more limited in these cases VA will combine the ratings of the left and right knees then add
an additional 10% va's functional loss rule says that VA should evaluate how the veterans condition
affects their ability to function in daily life when assigning a rating factors include pain how
severe the condition is during flare-ups and how often the flare-ups occur even if veteran
has a full range of motion if they are in so much pain that they cannot function then this should be
accounted for in their disability rating lastly va's major joint rule essentially says that if
a veteran has a diagnosis of arthritis for their knees VA should apply the normal range of motion
test and determine if the veteran qualifies for disability rating under the diagnostic codes for
limitation of flexion of the knee or limitation of extension of me if VA completes the range of
motion test and determines that the veteran has good range of motion overall but still
experiences pain then VA should use diagnostic code 5003 for arthritis if veteran has confirmed
arthritis through XR evidence VA should assign either a 10 or 20% disability rating based on
the severity of their conditional and whether it affects one or both knee joints this allows
VA to maximize the Veteran's compensation for their knee injuries first for more information
on KNE conditions and how to get VA disability benefits for these type of disabilities check
out our other videos in our blog at cc.com blog also be sure to to subscribe to our channel to
stay up toate with the latest VA disability information thank you for tuning [Music]
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