Partial Knee Replacement Surgery In India
A partial knee replacement – also called a uni-compartmental knee replacement – involves putting an implant on just one side of the knee, rather than over the entire surface of the knee joint. Think of the knee as having three compartments: an inside, outside, and a front compartment for the kneecap. Most frequently, it is the inside compartment that becomes arthritic. A uni-compartmental knee replacement is done if part of the knee joint is damaged by arthritis and the other compartments have healthy, normal cartilage.
Partial Knee Resurfacing is an innovative procedure designed to provide quicker recovery and improved surgical outcome for patients with osteoarthritis in only one part of the knee. By selectively targeting the portion of the knee that has become damaged by osteoarthritis, surgeons can isolate and resurface only the arthritic portion of the knee without compromising the healthy bone and tissue surrounding it.
This procedure is made possible through a surgeon-interactive robotic arm system. This system allows the surgeon to pre-operatively determine the damaged area of the bone to be removed and to plan the precise alignment and placement of the resurfacing implant specific to the patient’s anatomy. This level of consistently reproducible precision enables surgeons to restore knee function by resurfacing the arthritic defects rather than replacing the entire knee.
The partial knee replacement surgical procedure has generated significant interest because it entails a smaller incision and faster recovery than traditional total joint replacement surgery. Partial knee replacement, also called unicompartmental knee replacement’ and ‘minimally invasive knee surgery,’ removes only the most damaged areas of cartilage, and replaces these surfaces.
What is the problem with most patients for the partial knee replacement ?
Most patients who seek surgical management have arthritis that is too advanced for the minimally invasive partial knee replacement procedure. Because surgical treatment is considered a ‘last-resort’ by most patients, by the time surgery is necessary, their arthritis is too advanced to consider this minimally invasive procedure. If partial knee replacement is done in a patient who is a poor candidate, failure rates can be high, and conversion to a traditional total knee surgery may be more difficult.
Arthritic knee joints may be repaired either partially or totally – known as partial knee replacement and total knee replacement. A partial knee replacement is also called unicompartmental or “UNI”. If the bone disease is restricted to the inner side of the knee (the ‘medial’ side), the surgeon will simply reshape those damaged surfaces. The repaired surfaces on that one side of the knee are then partially covered with a combination of metal and plastic bearings. For this reason, a UNI knee replacement is considered less invasive and can provide much shorter recovery times from the operation.
What is a partial knee replacement ?
Partial knee replacement is a procedure in which orthopaedic surgeons replace part of a painful, dysfunctional knee joint that has only either the inner (medial) or outer (lateral) part of the joint damaged. A limited surgical procedure can resurface only the affected area with a metal implant and can preserve the remainder of the otherwise healthy knee.
Why would a doctor recommend a partial knee replacement ?
Partial knee replacement is usually recommended in patients who have severe arthritis of the knee and who have not benefited from conservative treatments such as medication, injections, strengthening exercises, and weight loss. In addition, it is only normally recommended in patients who : –
- Have arthritis that is confined to a limited area of the knee
- Have intact ligaments (specifically the ACL)
