Knee joint alloplasty

Knee alloplasty is a surgical procedure to replace the damaged knee joint with an artificial implant. It often turns out that this type of surgery is the only way to get rid of constant pain resulting from advanced degenerative changes. The knee endoprosthesis replaces the main functions of the natural joint and gives the patient a vastly improved quality of life.

Depending on the severity of the degenerativechanges, a partial or total knee alloplasty may be performed, which means removing a part or all of the knee joint. The operation involves replacing the joint surfaces destroyed by the disease with prosthetic components. The precise removal of the destroyed bone is an extremely important moment of the operation, because it determines the final result and the correct reconstruction of the so-called mechanical axis of the limb.

• For degenerationcaused by, for example, rheumatic disease,
• When there has been extensive trauma to the knee joint
• If there is long-term and recurrent inflammationin the knee joints
• When there was bone necrosis involving the articular surfaces

The choice of prosthesis depends primarily on the severity of the joint damage.

– total endoprostheses – they replace the whole joint, they are made in case of damage to many of its parts;

– single-compartment endoprostheses – used when there is damage on one side of the joint, in which case the prosthesis is fixed on one side

– bicompartmental endoprostheses – include replacement of the medial and lateral compartments without insertion of a patella prosthesis.

The alloplasty procedure is operated under epidural or general anaesthesia.
It can be divided into two types:

• Total alloplasty– the whole joint is replaced with an artificial surface
• Partial alloplasty – only one damaged part of the knee is replaced.

Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation starts as early as the first day after surgery. Initially it consists of breathing, anticoagulation and isometric exercises of the operated limb and learning to walk on crutches. The patient walks on crutches for about 2 weeks, which is decided by the doctor During the first weeks of rehabilitation, we focus on reducingpain and swelling and restoring the full range of motion, as well as rebuilding muscle strength. Exercises for the knee after surgery should be performed regularly, for about 2 months, during which the patient is able to completely return to physical fitness as it was before the surgery.