Although a total knee replacement is the most common procedure, a less invasive approach, such as the Oxford® Partial Knee, may be more suited to your needs. If you are still at the early stages of your osteoarthritis, meaning only parts (normally the medial, 'inner', compartment) of your knee has been damaged by the disease, you may be able to prevent it from spreading, thus avoiding having to undergo a total knee replacement. This procedure preserves the healthy parts of the joint, as it only replaces one side of the knee, leading to an artificial joint with a function that is closer to the natural knees movements and allows a more rapid recovery.
With the research and development conducted over the last two decades, we can with confidence offer a product that produces the same high quality results as a total knee replacement. Through the extensive research conducted in Oxford®, surgeons and engineers have been able to design the Oxford® Partial Knee which employs metal surfaces on both bones, with a plastic washer in between, free to glide between the metal surfaces (see Figure 4 and link).
The surfaces fit one another in all positions, so the plastic washers wear out very slowly; about three hundredths of a millimetre in a year, so miniscule it is hardly worth mentioning at all! It could be argued that the benefits of this exceed that of a total knee replacement as by retaining all the undamaged parts, in particular the cruciates, the joint bends better and has a more natural function. In addition, due to its less invasive nature, it leads to quicker recovery for you as a patient, less post operative pain and a shorter hospital stay.
The survivorship after 10 years of the Oxford® Partial Knee Replacement amounts to 98%, results that are equal to those of the most successful total knee replacements.
For a real life example, please visit the following link:
Patient‘s story
