Partial Knee Replacement

Dear Ask The Doctor: Hi, I got pain on my knee and my doctor recommends a partial knee surgery. But I did some research online and found for all the knee surgeries, only about 10% are partial knees and 90% are total knee replacements. Why is that? I figured that partial knee surgery treats early-mid stage osteoarthritis, and total knee treats late-stage. But all late stage come from early-mid stage, right? Then why aren't people doing partial knee surgery before it gets bad enough to require a total knee replacement? Is partial knee more risky or there are some other factors makes partial knee unfavorable? The fact that only 10% people choose partial knee makes me uneasy about this option.

Dear Bo: The reason that partial knee surgery is not as common as total knee replace is that most persons present to the doctor too late to have a partial knee replacement done! Most persons try a variety of treatments before opting for surgery allowing the disease to worsen significantly. If youre your surgeon has recommended partial knee replacement it suggest that your arthritis is not too far advanced. The more natural tissue that remains in the joint is the better the joint will function.