Pain that limits your day
Severe knee pain or stiffness that limits everyday activities, including walking, climbing stairs, and getting in and out of chairs. You may find it hard to walk more than a few blocks without significant pain.
Knee · Dr. Jason Jones
Total and partial knee replacement
When arthritis or injury makes walking, stairs or even rest painful, and other treatments have stopped working, knee replacement relieves the pain and corrects deformity. More than 90% of patients have a dramatic reduction in knee pain.
At a glance
- Pain relief
- More than 90% of patients
- Most patients
- Between 50 and 80
- Options
- Total or partial knee
- Afterwards
- Walking, golf, swimming, biking
Is it time?
When knee replacement is recommended
The decision should be a cooperative one between you, your family, your family doctor and your orthopaedic surgeon. Reasons to consider it include:
Pain at rest
Moderate or severe knee pain while resting, day or night.
Swelling that won't settle
Chronic knee inflammation and swelling that does not improve with rest or medications.
Knee deformity
A bowing in or out of your knee.
Other treatments have stopped helping
No substantial improvement with anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone or lubricating injections, physical therapy, or other surgeries.
Arthritis of the knee
Arthritis is a slowly progressive disease of the cartilage of your joints. Osteoarthritis is the most common form: the joint cartilage gradually wears away, most often in middle-aged and older people. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory type that can destroy cartilage at any age. Post-traumatic arthritis can develop years after a fracture, ligament injury or meniscus tear.
Common symptoms are a stiff, swollen joint, pain that comes on gradually or suddenly, pain that is worse in the morning or after rest, and a feeling of catching or locking.
Before surgery: non-surgical options
There are many options available to you once arthritis starts to set in. If your body does not respond to non-surgical treatments, surgery may be necessary.
Come in for an evaluation to see which option is right for you.
- Everyday changesLifestyle changes, including avoiding high-impact activities, weight loss, and supportive devices such as braces.
- CorticosteroidAn injection of a powerful anti-inflammatory that can reduce pain and stiffness.
- ViscosupplementationInjections that improve the quality and thickness of your natural joint fluid.
- Platelet rich plasmaPRP, an injection made from your own blood to reduce pain and inflammation.
- ArthroscopyIf these stop helping, a smaller arthroscopic surgery may be an option, depending on how far the arthritis has progressed.
- Joint replacementFor extensive arthritis, the damaged cartilage is replaced with a new metal and plastic surface.
Who is a candidate
There are no absolute age or weight restrictions. Most patients are between 50 and 80. Body weight can affect how hard rehabilitation is and your long-term result.
The procedure, in four steps
A knee replacement replaces the surfaces of the damaged bone. There are four basic steps.
- 01Prepare the boneThe damaged cartilage surfaces at the ends of the femur and tibia are removed along with a small amount of underlying bone.
- 02Position the metal implantsMetal components recreate the surface of the joint, either cemented or press-fit into the bone.
- 03Resurface the patellaThe under-surface of the kneecap is resurfaced with a plastic button, depending on the case.
- 04Insert a spacerA medical-grade plastic spacer between the metal components creates a smooth gliding surface.
Partial (uni-compartmental) knee replacement
The knee has three compartments: the medial (inside), the lateral (outside), and the patellofemoral (the front, between the kneecap and thighbone). When osteoarthritis is limited to one of them, only that compartment is replaced with metal and plastic. The healthy cartilage and bone in the rest of the knee is left alone.
Partial knee replacement has been performed in patients of all ages, but is more commonly done in patients younger than 60 or older than 75.
Multiple studies show partial knees perform excellently in the right patient, and one can feel more natural because most of your own knee is kept. Compared with a total knee replacement, the advantages include:
- A quicker recovery
- Less pain after surgery
- Less blood loss
- A knee that may bend better and function better
The trade-offs are a possibly shorter lifespan for the implant, and the chance that arthritis progresses to another part of the knee and causes pain.
What to expect afterwards
Knee replacement will not let you do more than you could before you developed arthritis. Every implant slowly wears in its plastic spacer with normal use, and excessive activity or weight can speed that up.
Realistic activities include unlimited walking, swimming, golf, driving, light hiking, biking, ballroom dancing and other low-impact sports. There are no strict limits after surgery, and many patients have gone back to more strenuous activities.
Your surgeon
Dr. Jason Jones
MD
Dr. Jones is a fellowship-trained sports medicine surgeon specializing in the knee and shoulder. He has performed several thousand knee and shoulder procedures, focused on joint preservation and minimally invasive surgery.
- Fellowship, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York
- Assistant team physician, New York Jets and New York Islanders
- Complex shoulder training in Nice, France, with Pascal Boileau
- Chairman of Orthopedics, Saint Thomas Hospital
Before your visit
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Also in Knee
Other knee problems Dr. Jones treats
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