Knee replacement surgery could be the next step when conservative treatments are no longer offering relief from chronic knee pain. If you’re considering your next step, the highly skilled team at Northland Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri, can help. They have considerable expertise and experience in performing total and partial knee replacement surgery using minimally invasive techniques wherever possible. Call Northland Orthopedics & Sports Medicine today to find out more, or you can book an appointment online.
You might need a knee replacement procedure if the joint is so badly damaged that there’s nothing that can be done to repair it. This could happen because of a severe injury, for example, in a front-end collision in your car. However, frequently, it’s due to degeneration caused by arthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the primary cause of severe joint degeneration, which typically affects older people. Osteoarthritis takes many years to develop, during which time the joint cartilage that protects the ends of your bones gets increasingly thin and worn.
In time, the cartilage deteriorates to the point that it wears away to leave the bone unprotected. It’s these bones rubbing together that causes inflammation, pain, and stiffness familiar to people who have osteoarthritis.
There isn’t a cure for arthritis as yet, but the team at Northland Orthopedics & Sports Medicine provides a range of conservative treatments that can help. In most cases, patients find these approaches work well in relieving pain and stiffness and increasing mobility.
However, over time, they might become less effective until you reach a point where partial or total knee replacement becomes a viable option.
If it’s possible to retain any parts of your knee joint, the team at Northland Orthopedics & Sports Medicine can save them and just replace the parts that are too badly damaged.
The advantages of preserving more of your bone with a partial knee replacement include:
Your provider at Northland Orthopedics & Sports Medicine can advise you which option is best, based on the extent of the deterioration in your knee.
Your knee replacement surgery takes place in several stages. First, your provider removes the damaged cartilage and the ends of the bones. They replace these with metal implants that replicate the original surfaces of the joint, and when necessary, resurface the patella.
A spacer goes in between the new metal pieces so they can slide against each other easily, mimicking the natural movement of the knee.
Whenever possible, the Northland Orthopedics & Sports Medicine team uses a minimally invasive approach to minimize tissue damage and promote faster healing. Your provider can discuss with you whether you’re suitable for minimally invasive knee replacement or if you’ll need open surgery.
We proudly serve the greater Kansas City area. If your knees are chronically painful and getting worse, talk to the experts at Northland Orthopedics & Sports Medicine about knee replacement. Call the office today or book an appointment online.
