What is a Total Knee Replacement

A total knee replacement is a surgical procedure whereby the diseased knee joint is replaced with artificial material. The knee is a hinge joint which provides motion at the point where the thigh meets the lower leg. The thigh bone (or femur) abuts the large bone of the lower leg (tibia) at the knee joint. During a total knee replacement, the end of the femur bone is removed and replaced with a metal shell. The end of the lower leg bone (tibia) is also removed and replaced with a channeled plastic piece with a metal stem. Depending on the condition of the kneecap portion of the knee joint, a plastic “button” may also be added under the kneecap surface.… Read the Rest

Types of Knee Replacement Devices

In 1947, Shiers, a British Orthopaedic Surgeon, developed the first true knee joint replacement, which was a simple hinge joint, pivoting around a central pin. From this early design, other types of knee prostheses evolved, but they all functioned in much the same way as a basic hinge joint, with no attempt made to replicate the complex motion of a normal knee. This was primarily because there was little knowledge of the way in which a physiologically normal knee moves.
In most types of total knee replacement devices there are four parts:

a metal “femoral” component which is placed in the lower end of the femur
a metal “tibial” component which is placed on the upper end of the tibia
a plastic “insert” which is placed between the two metal components and effectively replaces the cartilage
a plastic “patella” component which is sometimes (though not always) used to resurface the … Read the Rest

Limb lengthening common TKR

April 2008

SAN FRANCISCO – Patients typically experience an increase in limb length after undergoing total knee arthroplasty, according to a study presented here…

…Jason E. Lang, MD, and colleagues investigated changes in limb length occurring after TKA performed in 102 knees of 98 patients…

…Overall, 82 of the 102 knees (80.4%) experienced an increase in limb length after surgery, including 77% of the varus group and 86% of the valgus group…… Read the Rest