Uni-compartment Knee replacement (also known as partial knee replacement) is a special kind of surgery in which resurfacing of only damaged portion of knee is done, leaving healthy areas intact.
Human Knee joint is a complex joint. It actually consist of 3 sub-joints, i.e. two tibio-femoral ( medial & lateral ) & patella-femoral joint. All these three joint work together to perform range of movements and strength.
When osteoarthritis of knee joint starts, it starts by affecting one of its sub-joints. Most commonly affected is medial tibio-femoral joint (in approximately 95% ). If it is not taken care of, Osteoarthritis sets in all the three compartment. Traditionally total knee replacement is advised in advance cases of osteoarthritis of knee joint, but in early stage of osteoarthritis , when only one sub-joint is involved, Uni-compartment Knee Replacement (UKR) is always a better option, in which only the damaged sub-joint is replaced.
In India Uni-compartment knee replacement was started in 2002, since then it is getting more & more common to get relieve of uni-compartment knee osteoarthritis.
Advantages:
1. Only one sub-joint is replaced, so incision is smaller & tissue trauma is less, which ensures early recovery. Blood loss is also negligible.
2. Bone cuts are very minimal, so when after 10-12 years, when patient requires another surgery, it is primary total knee replacement later on, instead of revision knee replacement.
3. Patient can bear weight on next day itself, which makes it superior to other treatments of uni-compartment osteoarthritis, i.e. medicines, which does not cure the disease, & high tibial osteotomies, in which early weight bearing is not possible and have all the complication of fracture treatment.
4. Implant is cheaper than total knee, which makes this surgery cost-effective than total knee replacement.
Drawbacks:
1. UKR is advisable only when one sub-joint is involved. If any of the other sub-joint is also involved, UKA won’t provide much needed relief. In those type of cases Total knee replacement is the only option, And in India patient comes to joint replacement surgeon at a stage when knee is badly damaged, & UKA is not indicated.
2. UKA is more precise surgery than total knee replacement, since only one compartment is replaced. By any means, during the surgery, if knee mechanics not achieved perfectly, the surgery itself can lead to osteoarthritis in other sub-joints.
Summary:
After an age of 50 years, one should always take good care of their knees, & when knee start paining on the inner aspect of leg, one should always consult a joint-replacement surgeon, so that he can explain you the exact stage of the disease & provide proper treatment. And when only one sub-joint is involved, he can offer you uni-compartment knee replacement, thus delaying the total knee replacement by at least 10 years.