Most people are aware of the total knee replacement surgery. This involves replacing the unhealthy surface of the entire knee joint with metal and plastic implants. It is a very successful operation with good long term results. However a large percentage of patients have arthritis limited to one part of the joint alone. Replacing the whole joint in these patients is overkill and unnecessary.

Many middle aged men and women develop osteoarthritis of the knee. Osteoarthritis of the knee affects the inner half or medial compartment to start with and then proceeds to affect the outer half or lateral compartment.

In this operation only that part of the knee, which is unhealthy, is replaced. The normal surfaces are left alone. This operation has several advantages over total knee replacement surgery.

  *   It can be done through a very small incision.
  *   It is minimally invasive and hence tissue damage is far less.
  *   The patient gets complete pain relief and the implant lasts long
  *   The knee feels more natural as ligaments are preserved
  *   Range of movement is full and it allows squatting and sitting crosslegged
  *   Post operative hospitalization is reduced and return to normal is much faster than total knee replacement surgery.

Dr. Kaushal Malhan is a Joint Replacement and sports surgeon at the Wockhardt hospital. He was the first surgeon in India to do the mobile bearing oxford unicompartmental knee replacement and has been in the forefront in the field of full bending knee replacement surgery.

Preop xray of Dr Malhan’s patient showing affection of only half the knee joint.	Postop xray after surgery.

One of the many overseas patients Dr Malhan has operated at Wockhardt hospital.