Has a partial replacement got the same life expectancy as a full replacement? And based on this, would you opt for a partial or full replacement?
Has a partial replacement got the same life expectancy as a full replacement? And based on this, would you opt for a partial or full replacement?
An Oxford medial unicompartmental knee replacement has been shown to have over 95% survival of the implant at 10 years, if appropriate screening was done prior to the surgery. “Screening” means that it was ascertained that the lateral compartment was preserved and that the cruciate ligaments were intact. This compares to the best total knee results. Furthermore, it appears that if a revision is necessary, i.e. in the 5% of patients that develop a problem during the first 10 years, taking a unicompartmental knee replacement out and replacing it with a total knee replacement is less of an operation and has better results than taking a total knee replacement being replaced by another total knee replacement.
Therefore, the strategy utilizing a smaller prosthesis, i.e. unicompartmental knee replacement, as the first procedure, is predicted to give similar outcomes and better revision options than using a total knee replacement as the first procedure. It minimizes “burning your bridges”.