Unicompartmental Knee Replacement is an operation done to replace one arthritic compartment of the knee joint. In 90+% of cases this will be the medial (inner) compartment, as this wears out most commonly, causes the greater knee pain, and is more amenable to a unicompartment replacement.

Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty(replacement) -UKA, is an operation currently increasing in popularity, as much improved results, with quicker recovery, can be acheived with newer modern UKA designs, and improved less invasive surgical techniques, combined with greater understanding of the indications and principles required to do this exacting type of surgery.

The ideal patient for a UKA should have osteoarthritis(OA) principally confined to one compartment, preferably the medial, of the knee.To obtain the best result, any deformity should be correctable, there should be no flexion deformity, full range of movement should be present, with good muscle power, and the patient should not be abnormally overweight. Your surgeon will be very careful when considering the indications and contra-indications before recommending a UKA procedure. It will be apparent that a UKA is preferred when the arthritic change is still fairly early and confined. Age is not a great consideration, but most patients will be over 50years of age.

Recovery from a UKA is much quicker than after a TKR, and the functional result is equivalent to the function before operation, without the pain,  Hospitalisation will be 2 to 4 days, post operative physiotherapy requiremnt is minimal, and  patients can be walking with one stick by two weeks, and back to good functional activity by 4 to 6 weeks.

Unicompartmental Knee Arthroplasty is a procedure that Mr. Graham Lowe has a particular interest and expertise with, having done many of these operations over the last 7 years.