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Orthopaedics 360 INFO

“A Place to Learn”

Knee Arthritis is slightly more common than Hip Arthritis, and occurs in many more patterns than in the hip. A knee is composed of 3 main compartments, with any combination of these compartments making a knee painful. The medial (inside) of the knee is the most common type of knee arthritis. Inflammation, swelling and pain at night are the common features, leading to inability to walk longer distances.

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The image on the left shows an arthritic Knee. The symptoms that you may experience with Knee arthritis are:

Joint Stiffness
Decreased walking distance (Often with a limp)
Night pain
Difficulty climbing up and down stairs

Once knee arthritis is suspected, non operative modalities are optimised to manage the pain.

When you develop knee arthritis, the symptoms can be relatively mild. You may have more good days than bad days, and only notice pain during extended activity. It is important during that time to avoid long term inflammation, which can damage the joint further. The modalities to decrease pain and inflammation in the knee follow similar principles to hip arthritis, however physiotherapy can play a much larger role in alleviating knee arthritis.

Regular Panadol Osteo – This is the same as regular Panadol (Paracetamol) however the dose per tablet is slightly higher. This means that you should only take up to a maximum of 6 tablets per day rather than the usual 8 for Panadol.
Glucosamine and Fish Oil – Approximately 2/3rds of patients suffering from pain from osteoarthritis of the knee or hip will have some benefit. Glucosamine and Fish oil act as a natural anti-inflammatory and can be a great supplement to your usual medications as the risks are comparatively low. These agents will never repair damaged cartilage, however they can act to prevent ongoing inflammation.
Anti-inflammatory medication – Taken in short spurts, this can be a safe and effective method to reduce pain. Anti-inflammatory medication can interact with other medications, so ensure that you check with your doctor first. You should only take this form of medication for short periods during ‘acute flares’ of your symptoms
Weight loss – maintaining a healthy weight will help decrease the forces acting through your arthritic knees.
Physiotherapy to maintain good strength and stability of the muscles surrounding the knee.

Patient Specific Technology

Highly accurate, and customised for each patient

Fast Recovery, Minimises Pain

Accurate placement of the prosthesis

Improve Quality of Life

Become pain free, and get back to living the life you want.

Operative Treatment

As the osteoarthritis in the knee worsens, you will find that the above modalities will fail to manage the pain. When this occurs, operative management would be beneficial. There are many options for patients when’d deciding on how their knee replacement will be performed. Many of these are historical, whilst some are very new. A technique that blends the safety of tried and tested alignment principles, with the precision of the most accurate methods is Patient Specific Technology. This allows the surgeon to pre-operatively plan the surgery in a 3D Space. This allows the surgery to essentially be performed many weeks before the actual operation (in a virtual world). The safety and accuracy this provides is exceptional.

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A Jig is fitted to the knee during surgery, resulting in a custom made, patient specific cutting technique. This is a refined option, resulting in accurate prosthesis position every time.