Knee Replacement

Cayman Orthopaedic Group offers innovative Knee Replacements delivered by our team of qualified orthopaedic surgeons in the Cayman Islands.

Knee Replacement

The aim of knee replacement is meant to give you restored mobility and reduce painful bone on bone contact due to damaged bone surfaces and cartilage. The damaged  bone surfaces and cartilage will be removed and replaced with metal and plastic implants.

Partial Knee Replacement

Unicompartmental Knee Replacement:

If you have osteoarthritis, you might only experience pain on one side of your knee and your surgeon might prescribe unicompartmental knee replacement. This is where only the affected side of your knee joint is replaced, leaving the undamaged side untouched.

Patella-femoral knee replacement:

Patella-femoral knee replacement could be recommended by your surgeon if you experience pain under your kneecap. The damaged parts of your knee such as the femur and patella will be replaced, while preserving the healthy parts of your knee and tibia.

Total Knee Replacement

Total knee replacement is often required when osteoarthritis affects numerous areas of your knee. In total knee replacement surgery, a contoured piece of metal replaces the surfaces of the thighbone (femur). Next, the surface of the shinbone (tibia) is replaced with a flatter piece of mental along with a plastic piece that acts as cartilage. A plastic or combined metal and plastic implant can also be implanted in the undersurface of the kneecap.

How do you know if you are a candidate for knee replacement?

Consult your doctor and have a discussion around whether knee surgery is right for you. If you start to find that non-surgical treatments aren’t providing as much pain relief as you need to enjoy life the way you used to, it might be the right time to consider whether knee replacement surgery is the best option.

Some common signs that you should observe when considering knee replacement surgery are:

• Pain that wakes you up or keeps you awake at night
• Pain that inhibits your daily routine such as getting up from a chair or climbing stairs
• Activities that you normally enjoy such as exercising, travelling or shopping are now limited due to your pain
• Other treatments that you have tried are not relieving your persistent pain

Other factors that you should consider with your doctor before considering surgery are age, overall health and bone density. All surgical procedures have risks and benefits, and individual results vary based on personal circumstances. Recovery will take time, and your doctor will be able to provide details around post-operative expectations.

Some doctors might try to delay knee replacements as long as possible with the aim to prevent secondary operations once the first implants wear out, however, recently a National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel came to the conclusion that knee replacement can be extremely successful. They found that knee replacements can result in “rapid and substantial improvement in the patient’s pain, functional status, and overall health-related quality of life in about 90% of patients.”[1]

[1] NIH Consensus Statement on Total Knee Replacement. NIH Consens State Sci Statements. 2003;20:1-32.