Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting millions of people around the world. Symptoms of knee osteoarthritis include:
- Pain – during movement
- Tenderness
- Stiffness –usually after periods of inactivity
- Lack of flexibility – inability to move through full range of motion
- Grating sensation
- Bone spurs – small, hard lumps felt around the joint
Learn about the surgical and non-surgical options for treating knee pain
One of the most common causes of knee pain in adults is osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease characterized by the breakdown and eventual loss of joint cartilage. The breakdown and deterioration of cartilage causes the bones to rub together resulting in extreme pain. If you or a loved one suspects that you may have knee osteoarthritis, there are effective surgical and non-surgical treatment options.
Based in Chicago, IL, Dr. Shadid has treated thousands of patients whose lives have been impacted by debilitating knee pain from osteoarthritis. Dr. Shadid treats his patients as individuals and considers treatment options based on each patient’s medical history and diagnosis. Dr. Shadid always considers non-surgical options first, including lifestyle changes, anti-inflammatory pain medication, and knee injections for reducing pain and increasing mobility. However, as osteoarthritis gets worse, non-surgical treatments may prove to be ineffective, and surgery may be required.
Knee Replacement Surgery
If osteoarthritis has become too severe to be helped by non-surgical options, you may be a good candidate for knee replacement surgery. Dr. Shadid considers many factors before recommending this procedure, including:
• Imaging results and X-rays
• Impact of pain on your ability to continue working
• Frequency and level of your pain
• Impact of the pain on your ability to continue ordinary recreation and activities
The two knee replacement surgeries used most commonly are partial knee replacement, also called partial knee resurfacing, and total knee replacement, also called total knee arthroplasty.
Partial Knee Replacement
Knee resurfacing or partial knee surgery treats only the parts of your knee that are affected by osteoarthritis. You may require either a unicompartmental (one compartment) or a bicompartmental (two compartments) knee arthroplasty procedure.
A partial knee replacement offers unique benefits when compared to total knee replacement. These include a possibly shorter surgery time and recovery time.
Total Knee Replacement
If your osteoarthritis is so severe that a partial knee replacement will not help, you may need a total knee replacement. The total knee replacement procedure replaces all your knee joint compartments surgically. These include the inside (medial), outside (lateral) and front (patellofemoral) parts of the knee. Patients can typically walk the day of surgery and return to work within three to four weeks.
The ConforMIS Advantage
The ConforMIS Advantage
Only your surgeon can determine if you are a candidate to receive a ConforMIS customized knee replacement. The ConforMIS Knee Implants offer the following advantages:
Designed to match your size and shape for optimal patient fit.
Many manufacturers offer a range of “off-the-shelf” sizes, but they do not consider an individualized shape. Your knee is a complex joint. In order to understand it in its entirety, we must think about both size AND shape. Since every knee is distinct in its size and shape, your implant should also be that distinct.
With the ConforMIS customized implants, surgeons do not have to compromise on the fit. Prior to your surgery, your implement is designed based on your CT scan data.
With an off-the-shelf implant, surgeons are forced to make decisions that compromise the fit and feel of the implant, because it was designed to a standardized size, instead of your specific anatomy. These implants require surgeons to make decisions in the OR that may possibly result in the implant being too large or too small for the anatomy (called implant overhang or underhang). These compromises can alter the rotational alignment and joint line of your knee, which have been shown to be the leading causes of residual pain.(add two references: Berger, Whiteside)
ConforMIS customized implants do not require the surgeon to make these compromises, because your implant is designed specifically for your size and shape. Your implant matches your unique anatomy for an optimal fit, and preserves the medial and lateral joint lines. This results in the potential for a more natural feeling knee.
Designed for Optimal Bone Preservation
The average total of all bone resection measurements for iTotal CR was 27% less than the average total for surgeries done using an off-the-shelf implant. In a study by W. Kurtz titled “Patient-Specific Knee Replacement Implants Preserve Bone and Decrease Blood Loss & Swelling” presented at the 2013 BASK Annual Meeting, comparing 66 iTotal patients with 66 patients receiving one off-the-shelf implant brand (Zimmer NexGen), thickness of the femoral (distal and posterior medial/lateral), and tibial (medial/lateral) resections were measured intra-operatively. The average total of all bone resection measurements for iTotal was 27% (14mm) less than for the off-the-shelf total knee. Additionally, the total thickness of the iTotal implants was 25% (15.7mm) thinner on average than the off-the-shelf implants.
Designed to reduce operating time for optimal efficiencies
By using the ConforMIS personalized implant system, we are able to reduce the number of decisions we have to make in the operating room and sterilizing the placement guides. Because the ConforMIS implant is designed specifically for you, we do not have to spend time in the OR selecting the off-the shelf size that would be closest to your size. Instead, there is simply only implant for your surgery, your implant. This implant, your implant, simply would not fit another patient.
Single-use Design to Reduce the Risk of Contamination
Each ConforMIS implant comes in a pre-sterilized, disposable, single-use kit. This means that the implant and instruments are used on you and only you, and then discarded by the OR staff. Single-use instrumentation reduces the risk of infection, as they are disposable and not used on multiple patients.
Designed for the potential for a more natural feeling knee
Kinematics (or motion) is a word that we like to use that describes the motion of your knee. The motion of your knee and how well it moves is a strong indicator of how natural your knee will feel after surgery. Our goal is to give you the “most natural feeling knee” as we possibly can. We believe that the more an implant mimics the natural shape of your knee, the more likely it is to move more naturally and feel more natural.
Designed to simplify the surgical procedure
You may not spend much time thinking about the steps of a surgical procedure, but we do! Over time, surgeons adopt procedures that are designed to improve the efficiency in the OR. Why should this matter to you, our patient? When we spend less time in the OR, it means you spend less time under anesthesia. The ConforMIS personalized implants and instrumentation offer us a simplified approach to knee replacements. Much of the time saved is due to the pre-sterilization, single-use pre-navigated instruments, designed prior to getting in the operating room. For each surgery we receive a “surgical plan” which works like a map of your knee, showing us what information that typically we can’t see until we are in the operating room.
1. Berger, et al; Malrotation Causing Patellofemoral Complications after Total Knee Arthroplasty. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research; 1998, 356: 144-153
2. Whiteside, et al; The Influence of Joint Line Position on Knee Stability After Condylar Knee Arthroplasty. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research; 1990, 259: 146-156
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