Partial or Total Knee Replacement - Mark Wilchinsky, MD

Video Transcript

I’m Dr. Mark Wilchinsky – I’m an orthopaedic surgeon at OSM and I sub-specialize in arthritis
of the knee. People often ask should I have a total knee replacement or partial knee replacement. And my answer to that is that it depends on the age of the patient and the location of the arthritis in the patient. The partial knee replacement is used for people who have very localized arthritis in the knee and is sometimes used in younger patients because by doing a partial knee replacement, they can get perhaps 10 or 12 years of a good painless knee. And then this saves them the trouble of a more invasive type procedure – mainly, the total knee replacement. In addition, the partial knee replacement can be done as an outpatient these days. On the other hand, when the arthritis is very severe and especially if patients have deformity and/or if they are older, the total knee replacement is the proper procedure. And that’s a more invasive procedure but, it is more long-lasting than a partial knee replacement.