Surgical treatment options for knee arthritis

Why is arthritis so common in our knees?

Arthritis can affect any joint in the body. It most commonly affects weight bearing joints that experience more ‘wear and tear’ as we get older and the muscle mass that helps support our movement starts to decrease.

Your knees do a lot of work for almost any activity, whether it’s walking to work or bending down while working in your garden. If you’re carrying extra weight your knees are put under even more stress, causing them to wear out quicker.

Other risk factors for arthritis are genetic and post-traumatic in the event of an accident or injury.

What are the signs and symptoms of arthritis?

You may have one or more of the following symptoms

• Pain
• Swelling
• Stiffness (often worse in the morning)
• Locking
• Clicking/grinding

We spoke to a leading Orthopaedic surgeon with a special interest in knee joint replacements, Mr. Jaison Patel, who spoke about possible surgical treatments you may need to undergo.

1. Osteotomy

Osteotomy may be recommended to you if your legs curve outward (bow-legged) or if your knees turn inward (knock-knees). These specific knee deformities can put increased pressure on the inner or outer knee, causing either part to wear down while the rest of the knee remains intact.

This procedure involves your surgeon making a precise cut into the bone to change the overall alignment of the leg and shift weight away from the worn-out part of the knee.

An osteotomy can be a good option if you’re young and your surgeon feels it may be too soon to have your knee joint completely replaced.

2. Joint replacement

Joint replacement is a procedure where your worn-out joint is replaced by an artificial joint. This can help relieve severe pain if other treatment options didn’t help and can improve your movement and overall quality of life.

Partial knee replacement

The knee can be divided into 3 parts and if only one part of your knee is affected by arthritis, your surgeon may advise you to have partial knee replacement surgery. Your surgeon is likely to recommend this surgery if you suffer from osteoarthritis.

Partial knee replacement is a safe option that allows you to make a faster recovery than if you’d had the entire joint replaced. Before considering knee replacement surgery, it might be worth asking your surgeon if partial knee replacement may be a more suitable option.

Total knee replacement

If the osteoarthritis is widespread throughout your knee, or if you suffer from inflammatory arthritis, your surgeon may recommend a total knee replacement.

In this case, the whole hinge part of the knee joint between the shin bone and thigh bone is replaced and, in some cases, a part of your kneecap joint may be replaced too. Though the recovery may take more time, the results from total knee replacement surgery are very good and you can expect a significant ‘quality of life’ improvement once you’re fully recovered.

3. Joint revision

Occasionally, knee replacements may have to be re-done because the implants become loose or infected. You may be more likely to need a joint revision if you had one of your joints replaced at a young age.

This surgery is more complicated than the first joint replacements and may take a while to recover from.

When to seek professional help

If you’re struggling with joint pain and would like to know more about the right treatment option for you, book an appointment at your local Nuffield Health hospital or find out more about our free Joint Pain Programme.

About the author

Jaison Patel is extensively trained and highly skilled in all aspects of knee surgery. As a surgeon exclusively looking after knees, Mr Patel is able to provide his patients with a wide range of treatment options.

He primarily works for Nuffield Health at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he treats patients with injuries ranging from minor sports injuries and arthritis all the way up to failing knee replacements that require complex re-do surgery and major knee injuries that need multiple ligament reconstructions.

Last updated Tuesday 15 October 2024

First published on Friday 11 October 2024