Also known as ‘unicondylar knee arthroplasty’ or ‘unicondylar knee replacement’.

The knee joint internally has a large area covered with specialised hyaline cartilage that allows your knee to take your body weight and move smoothly to afford you mobility.

Arthritis is the term used to describe the wearing out of this cartilage surface lining, which results in pain, swelling, stiffness, and often a variable amount of joint deformity. The wear may affect the entire surface of the joint, or only an isolated section. Severe arthritic changes in the knee that affect only one part of the knee may be treated by replacing only the affected part, as long as the rest of the joint lining is well preserved and well functioning.

It is importnant to recognise that there are a number of other criteria that must exist to maximise the success of partial joint replacements, and Dr Ihsheish will be able to discuss your specific case with you accrding to clinical and radiological assessments.

The advantages of doing this 'partial' joint replacement relate to it actually being actually smaller operation, this means a shorter surgical time, a smaller scar, and a faster recovery for the patient. In general, other complications are less also, such as bleeding. The other advantages of this operation is that it preserves the rest of your native joint for longer, buying more time for the patient before they come to need a total knee replacement. From a technical side, for the surgeon this operation is less complicated, and its conversion to a total knee replacement when this is required is also less complicated. Conversion to a total knee replacemnt may be required down the line if the rest of the joint wears out or becomes affected by arthritis.