The most common reason to have a knee joint replaced is to ease severe arthritis pain.

Your health care provider may suggest knee joint replacement if:

• You can’t sleep through the night because of knee pain.
• Your knee pain prevents you from doing daily activities.
• Your knee pain has not gotten better with other treatments.

You will need to understand what surgery and recovery will be like.

Partial knee arthroplasty may be a good choice if you have arthritis in only one side or part of the knee and:

• You are older, thin, and not very active.
• You do not have very bad arthritis on the other side of the knee or under the kneecap.
• You have only minor deformity in the knee.
• You have good range of motion in your knee.
• The ligaments in your knee are stable.

However, most people with knee arthritis have a surgery called a total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Knee replacement is most often done in people age 60 and older. Not all people can have a partial knee replacement. You may not be a good candidate if your condition is too severe. Also, your medical and physical condition may not allow you to have the procedure.

Always tell your provider which drugs you are taking, including herbs, supplements, and medicines bought without a prescription.

During the 2 weeks before your surgery:

• Prepare your home.
• Ask your provider which medicines you can still take on the day of your surgery.
• You may be asked to stop taking medicine that makes it harder for your blood to clot. These include aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve), blood thinners such as warfarin (Coumadin), and other drugs.
• You may need to stop taking any medicines that weaken your immune system, including Enbrel and methotrexate.
• If you have diabetes, heart disease, or other medical conditions, your surgeon will ask you to see the provider who treats you for these conditions.
• Tell your provider if you have been drinking a lot of alcohol (more than one or two drinks a day).
• If you smoke, you need to stop. Ask your providers for help. Smoking slows healing and recovery.
• Let your provider know if you get a cold, flu, fever, herpes breakout, or other illness before your surgery.
• You may want to visit a physical therapist before surgery to learn exercises that can help you recover.
• Practice using a cane, walker, crutches, or a wheelchair.

On the day of your surgery:

• You may be told not to drink or eat anything for 6 to 12 hours before the procedure.
• Take the medicines your provider told you to take with a sip of water.
• Your provider will tell you when to arrive at the hospital.

You may be able to go home the same day or need to stay in the hospital for a day.

You can put your full weight on your knee right away.

After you return home, you should try to do what your surgeon tells you. This includes going to the bathroom or taking walks in the hallways with help. You will also need physical therapy to improve range of motion and strengthen the muscles around the knee.

Most people recover quickly and have much less pain than they did before surgery. People who have a partial knee replacement recover faster than those who have a total knee replacement.

Many people are able to walk without a cane or walker within 3 to 4 weeks after surgery. You will need physical therapy for 3 to 4 months.

The benefits of Unicondylar Knee Replacement are –

1. Less Invasion: In this procedure, the surgeons will not need to cut open the entire knee. They will only make a small cut in the affected area. This will prompt less surgical injury to the surrounding soft tissues.

2. Less Surgical Complication: Every surgery will be associated with some forms of surgical ‘downs’ like blood loss, infection etc. But in this procedure, since you have a smaller incision, the chances of such risks are much less. Hence, post-surgery, you will not feel as tired as you might feel after a total knee replacement.

3. Quicker Recovery: Again, because of a smaller incision, you can recover quicker and you can bounce back to your normal life faster.

4. Preserves Natural Knee: When your surgeons perform a unicondylar knee replacement on you, they leave the healthy section of your knee untouched (as opposed to a total knee replacement where the entire, both the healthy and damaged section, is scraped off). This way, your natural tissue of the knee is preserved. Even if you have a smaller degree of arthritis in the other section of the knee, that section can be managed with traditional medicine.

5. Scope Of Extension: Now, say, that the healthy section of your knee has not responded well to conventional medicine. In that case, the partial replacement can be extended to a total knee replacement. Just because you have done a unicondylar replacement, it does not mean that you have lost out your chances of getting a total replacement, if required.

The scope of unicondylar knee replacement has been increasing with every new technique that comes out. Now, it has been proven that even obese people and sportspersons (or people with a high degree of physical activity) can opt for a partial knee replacement and get successful results.
However, you must remember that to avail the benefits of unicondylar knee replacement, you must seek treatment before arthritis spreads all over your knee in which case, you will only be able to take a total knee replacement.
If you are facing troublesome arthritis or any discomfort in your knee, you can approach our knee experts at Sunshine Hospitals. If you have any questions regarding any treatment or your condition, you can submit your query here