PARTIAL KNEE REPLACEMENT (ARTHROPLASTY)

It is not unusual for one of the three compartments of the knee, the inside (medial), outside (lateral), or front (patellofemoral) to wear out first. This is dependent on it being osteoarthritis (rather than an inflammatory cause) and the reason for it occurring. If your symptoms and signs are severe and you are suitable for a partial replacement then you can expect the optimal return to function.

Partial knee replacements create a new joint in a specific part of the knee that has a metal alloy on hardened plastic as the new bearing surface

• Medial Unicompartmental Joint Replacement/Arthroplasty (UKA/UKR). It is most common for the medial inside of the joint to wear first giving characteristic pain well located on the inside of the knee often worse when pressure is placed there such as lying on your side
• Lateral Unicompartmental Joint Replacement/Arthroplasty (UKA/UKR). Far less common than the lateral side making suitability less likely but a potentially excellent solution for isolated pain on the outside of your knee
• Patellofemoral Joint Replacement/Arthroplasty (PFJA/PFJK). Isolated osteoarthritis in the front can have the best results from non-operative management but in resistant cases replacing just the back of the patella and the trochlea groove that it runs in will spare the hinged weightbearing (tibiofemoral) part of the joint