The knee joint is made up of three compartments: one inner, one outer, and one with the kneecapQuite often, especially in the Indian population it is only the inner compartment that gets affected and the other two compartments are normal( Medial Arthritis) Even in these cases of extreme arthritis of one compartment (Medial Arthritis), traditionally total knee replacement is offered whereas we don’t need to do that.The fact of the matter is that in about 30% of cases where total knee replacement is done, the patient will benefit much more by change of just one compartment —that is -partial or “Half or Partial Knee Replacement “ which is much more patient-friendly bone preserving, give much better rehabilitation and with a normal gait and walk. Patient scan walks fast play light sports and even sit cross-legged.“Half of the partial knee replacement “is eminently suited for such casesRecognizing this concept, in United Kingdom , now of all Knee replacement cases done , about 25% cases are the ones in which only one compartment is changed(Mobile Oxford Knee Replacement ) In our country orthopedic surgeons have started to recognize this but the gap is much larger and lot of awareness is required
So , why change all the three compartments when only one is involved ?It is important to identify before surgery whether it is predominantly one compartment involvement or other compartments are also involved. There are special x-ray views recommended to determine that.Once it is established that only one compartment is involved , then , it is logical to change only that part or compartmentIt is now possible to do that with Oxford mobile partial knee replacement popularly known as “half knee replacement”This is done with modern minimally invasive instruments through a much smaller incision.Only a small portion of joint is touched and other parts are left alone and that is why the recovery rate is very fast and problems , pain or complications after this surgery are also much less and success rate is very highIt must be remembered that the surgery is offered only in those cases where non-operative treatment has failed and only one compartment is involvedEven today if all three compartments are involved , then , total knee replacement is the operation of choice and gives wonderful results but in one compartment involvement especially Medial Arthritis, “Partial Knee replacement”is a wonderful answer
