Actually there is no overlap as these are indicated for two different subsets of patients. The unicondylar knee replacment is ideal for the younger patient in the 40’s or 50’s with unicompartmental arthritis and this could be the first knee replacment for this patient. It could also be the last knee replacment for the very elderly patient after 80. patients in the 60’s or 70’s with tricompartmental arthritis are better off with a total knee replacement.
Again there is no overlap between these extremely good operations. The active robust man who is working is better with an osteotomy whereas the sedentary lady is better off with an unicondylar knee replacement
Unicondylar Knee Replacements have been performed since the early 1970s with mixed success. Over the last 25 years, implant design, instrumentation, and surgical technique have improved markedly, making it a very successful procedure for unicompartmental arthritis. Recent advances allow us to perform this through a smaller incision, which is not as traumatic to the knee, making recovery quicker.
Total Knee Replacement surgery replaces the ends of the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone) with plastic inserted between them and usually the patella (knee cap).
Minimally invasive UKA is reliable and effective for treating isolated medial or lateral knee arthrosis. It offers decreased morbidity, a surgical option that satisfies patients, improves function, and has an economic advantage over TKR due to reduced implant cost, decreased acute hospitalization, lower transfusion incidence, lower complication rates, and the reduced need for subacute rehabilitation and outpatient physical therapy. Further economic advantages exist in that resurfacing type unicondylar components can be revised with primary total knee components, effectively eliminating the need for costly revision knee prostheses in most patients.
Unicondylar procedures have a finite survivorship. Younger, heavier, or more active patients should be advised that the effective period for their implant may be shorter than the 10 years that the average patient experiences