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 Knee replacements are performed for patients with advanced knee arthritis presenting with pain, loss of function and poor quality of life. Our knee has 3 compartments- the medial (inside), lateral (outside) and patellofemoral (kneecap) compartments. A total knee replacement replaces all 3 compartments while compartment-specific replacements such as partial or unicompartmental replacements replace only the diseased compartments. Knee replacements have one of the most successful outcomes in surgery and the success rate is in excess of 90% in the right hands. It can reliably alleviate pain, restore function and greatly improve the quality of life of patients.
The procedure involves removing small amounts of diseased bone and cartilage and replacing them with an artificial knee made of advanced materials such as titanium and cobalt-chromium alloy and a very smooth and durable plastic. Patients are expected to start walking on the 1st or 2nd day after operation with the assistance of a frame and are discharged on the 3rd or 4th day following surgery. Our medical director, Dr Kevin Lee is a member of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons and he performs all his knee replacements via a minimally invasive approach and works only with anaesthetists who specialise in pain management. In special situations, he uses computer assisted surgery (CAS) to perform the knee replacements.
Recent surgical advances in knee replacement surgery include:
1. The use of minimally-invasive techniques (less cutting of soft tissue, smaller incisions)
2. Better post-operative pain management
3. The use of High-Flexion knee designs to accommodate active patients who require more bending of their knees
4. The use of Gender Specific Knee Implants (women and men’s knee differ from each other)
5. Improvement in implant materials
6. Computer guided or computer navigation knee surgery.
All these advances now mean that patients spend only 4 to 5 days in hospital, have less pain and recover more quickly from surgery.
Most recently, a new technique using Patient Specific Instrumentation (PSI) has been developed which allows the surgery to be accurate and fast. MRI imaging is used to capture your knee anatomy and custom fitted positioning guides are created that are specifically designed for your knee replacement surgery. Dr Kevin Lee was trained in Stanford University by one of the pioneers of this technique- Professor William Maloney and he performed NUH’s first Patient Specific Instrumentation (PSI) case in 2010.
Here are links to some very good patient resources for understanding more about knee replacements:
1. http://www.kneereplacement.com/DePuy/About/index.html
2. http://www.zimmer.com/en-US/pc/cm/knee-pain.jspx?t=considering-surgery |
