Also known as a Partial Knee Replacement, a Unicondylar Knee R eplacement 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.
Partial knee replacement is most commonly used as a treatment for osteoarthritis. This condition is caused by the wearing away of cartilage within the knee joint, which results in bones scraping against each other. 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.