Knee joint replacement is only necessary when the pain becomes uncontrollable and one cannot do their regular activities due to this. There are variations in this surgery.
Total knee replacement
Before knowing what is the best total knee replacement, one should know what actually a total knee replacement is. In this operation the joint surfaces of the femur or the thigh bone and the tibia or the shin bone are replaced totally. It may also include the replacement of the under surface of the knee cap which is also called the patella with a smooth plastic dome. Some surgeons can also preserve the natural patella if only possible while others remove it with the plastic one. When the surgery is done the new parts are mostly cemented in their places or else the bone is textured and coated to form a natural bond in the replaced knee joint. There is another common technique where the replaced joint is firmly fixed with the metal parts. This may provide with the long term results.
Unicompartmental or partial knee replacement
There are mainly three major compartments of a knee. They are the inner medial, the outer lateral and the knee cap area. If only one part of the knee gets affected like the inner knee or the outer knee then there is a half knee replacement which can also be done. This is what one call the partial knee replacement. It involves less interference with the knee as only a portion of the knee is replaced. This helps the knee to function better post surgery and it also has a quick recovery process. This surgery can be done with a very small incision and techniques like minimally invasive surgery is mainly used to do that. But yes, to do this partial knee replacement one has to have very strong and healthy ligaments or else you are not suitable for this. It is also said that those who have gone for partial knee replacements has to undergo another surgery in ten years or more. But again, this surgery is very common as it can be done on a person of any age. This is a less stressful operation and if one injures their knee by accident, then also this surgery can be performed. The common patients for this surgery are the one who has arthritis, or torn knee ligaments or fractures.
Interlock knee surgery
In this kind of surgery they have a longer stem which helps the knee to be secured by the bone cavities that are fixed. Here, the components can be interlocked to the centre of the knee so that it can provide a firmer balance and a better stability. The surgeon can use some extra metal piece to support the badly damaged bone. This mainly happens when one is going for the knee joint replacement for the second or the third time.
Is knee replacement surgery successful and at what ratio it is successful can be told to a patient by an orthopaedic surgeon only.