Also known as a partial knee replacement, a unicondylar knee replacement is an alternative to total knee replacement for patients suffering from osteoarthritis with damage confined to only one compartment of the knee joint. It wasn’t long ago that knee replacement surgery was reserved for the elderly. Now, implants and surgical techniques have improved dramatically, allowing more patients with osteoarthritis to become eligible for unicondylar knee replacement than ever before.

During a unicondylar knee replacement, only the damaged part of the knee cartilage is replaced with a prosthesis, as compared to a total knee replacement that addresses the entire knee joint.

Advantages of Unicondylar Knee Replacement

Some of the advantages of a partial knee replacement include:

• Better-preserved range of motion as compared to total knee replacement
• Preserves healthy tissue and bone in the knee, promoting better knee function
• Reduced blood-loss during surgery
• Faster recovery because of the less-invasive nature of the surgery