Partial Knee Replacement Surgery
If you are considering knee surgery, the following partial knee replacement information may help you understand your alternatives.
Knee pain from arthritis can be particularly debilitating because we use our knees in almost all of our daily activities. If you are experiencing severe knee pain that interferes with your normal functioning, your doctor may recommend a partial knee replacement, also known as uni-compartmental knee replacement.
This procedure is much less invasive than total knee replacement and may give relief to people suffering from arthritis of the knee or a knee injury. Partial knee replacement surgery replaces only the damaged area of your knee joint, may require only one day of hospitalization, and results in dramatically less recovery time when compared with total knee replacement surgery.
The knee can be divided into three compartments: the medial compartment, the lateral compartment, and the patello-femoral compartment. The uni-compartmental implant is designed to replace either the medial or lateral compartment.
| The x-ray below shows a right leg with a degenerated medial (inside) compartment. Notice how there is no space between the femur and the tibia. This bone on bone contact can be quite painful. |
The x-ray below shows a right leg with a degenerated medial (inside) compartment. Notice how there is no space between the femur and the tibia. This bone on bone contact can be quite painful. |
Unicompartmental Osteoarthritis |
Post-operative View with Implant |
Available Treatment Options
Your doctor may try several conservative treatments before recommending partial knee replacement.
Read more about non-surgical options here...
If the conservative treatments do not relieve your pain from arthritis of the knee, surgical procedures may be recommended. Arthroscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure to remove debris or repair torn cartilage. Total knee replacement surgery is major surgery that replaces all three compartments of the knee. Between those two alternatives is uni-compartmental surgery.