The Different Knee Surgeries to Treat Arthritis

Knee arthritis is one of the most common reasons that people come to our Cheshire Knee Clinic. Here at My Knee Doc, we believe it’s important you have a complete understanding of all your options before deciding on which treatment is best for you.

This is why we’ve written this dedicated blog post that goes over the various surgeries that can help treat knee arthritis.

 

Total Knee Replacement Surgery

This kind of surgery, also known as total knee arthroplasty, is typically for patients who are suffering from moderate to severe knee arthritis who have tried non-surgical treatment options without success. Since this surgery involves replacing the entirety of the knee joint, our knee surgeon, typically only recommends it in cases where the patient has exhausted other potential treatments and options.

While this surgery provides many patients with pain relief and improved function of the knee joint, there are other options that you might want to consider.

Partial Knee Replacement Surgery

Unlike total knee replacement surgery, partial knee replacement surgery (also known as unicompartmental knee arthroplasty) is the replacing of only one of the knee’s three major “compartments”. This is because this kind of surgery only treats the damaged or “worn-out” section of your knee joint, which is usually the lateral or medial compartment.

Your knee surgeon  leaves healthy areas untouched, making the procedure less invasive compared to a total knee replacement. It is important to know that patients must have well-aligned knees for this kind of surgery, and are ineligible if they have ligament damage or suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.

Knee Osteotomy

Knee osteotomy may be recommended for people under the age of 60, and who have unilateral arthritis due to poor knee alignment and who regularly undergo high amounts of physical activity. Successful knee osteotomies have shown to postpone the need for total knee replacement surgery by up to ten years.

The osteotomy is comprised of either the removal or addition of a small wedge of bone into the femur or tibia. This is done so that the knee joint is re-aligned, shifting pressure towards the unworn side of the knee, thus slowing down the progression of osteoarthritis in the knee along with reducing pain.

Knee Arthroscopy

Knee arthroscopy is performed through small incision in your knee. It involves inserting a small camera to assess your joint and perform knee debridement and lavage. This allows the removal of any loose pieces of cartilage or bone causing irritation, along with removing any inflamed synovial tissue.

While these are the main kinds of knee surgery a knee surgeon Warrington uses to treat knee arthritis, we didn’t mention the treatment of cartilage repair and restoration. This treatment is complex and typically for younger patients with cartilage damage through trauma.

 

Arrange To Speak To A Specialist

 

If you have some questions and think it would be good to talk to someone from the My Knee Doc team first so you can be 100% sure that we can help you.

You can schedule a free 10-minute call and one of our specialists will answer all your questions, over the phone, completely free.