Partial knee replacement

Hi Robin,

?I'm in Britain. The decider was the surgeon. Once the surgeon confirmed I was a candidate at age 71 he gave me two options, total or partial. He explained the two processes and gave me the choice. I chose partial. He agreed, adding the caveat that he would do it only if when he 'went into the knee', there was no further sign of osteoarthritis pollution  of the bone. My problem was the tibia, medial compartment. My cause was as a result of a sporting injury decades earlier, which in itself resulted in my tearing the right knee cartilidge which had to be removed. For 15 years I was bone on bone BUT only in the medial and that is how the OA came to be restricted to just one point only. No further signs of OA anywhere.  My sister in contrast at 70 had a total because her knee was totally riddled with OA not from anything else but the aging process and possibly some genetic family input. My sugeon and I do not expect the need for further surgery - but hey - who knows !

?to the best of my memory now a partial is simpler surgery with a cleaner, neater and speedier recovery. BUT the decision will be the surgeons, almost certainly.

?John

I wish now I'd had a partial knee replacement mainly because a TKR can really knock your general health around.my gut feeling is that if your health is in peak condition before the op then you may fare better but if like me your an ex smoker and have been partial to the odd drunken nights in my 'youthful' days plus weight issues on and off and you're over 60 then you will suffer from a major op such as a TKR is.

A PKR has a shorter recovery period but apparently it doesn't last as long but I'm nearly a year post op and can hardly walk

Hi, had a L-PKR 2 1/2 years ago. Before surgery doc was set up for TKR if things were worse than appeared on X-rays. Had R-TKR one year ago. The recovery on the PKR was easier than the total. But the TKR had virtually no swelling whereas the PKR is still a bit swollen or some fluid. At times it had more pain than the TKR. Doc says they need to adapt to each other. At one point I was wishing it had been a total. Now my right hip is bad and set for replacement in two weeks. My poor right TKR knee is suffering for it and the other is my #1 fav. At any rate, the recovery is easier but not that much different though PT is easier. Bottom line. It's how bad your knee compartments are..and there are three.