Partial Knee Replacement and ACL Reconstruction: An Overlook

Knee arthritis is one of the ailments that are usually suffered by the aged people. It requires a treatment called partial knee replacement. Looks scary! But actually it is not as scary as the name makes it look! Knee arthritis is caused when the cartilage between the joints wear away. This wearing away of the cartilages occurs due to inflammation in joints which results in the exposure of bones at the smooth knee joint surfaces. Genetic variations, overweight and age are know to be the main causes of knee arthritis. In the recent times, studies have found that it can also be caused due to intense physical activities and sports as well. The process of Partial Knee Replacement involves the doctor making a cut of about 3 inches in the damaged knee and then replacing the damaged bone with a metallic or plastic or fiber implant. The symptoms of the knee arthritis are severe pain even when the knee joint is not working and pain while walking, running or even standing. The pain is persistent and often rises in waves at certain movements. The knee replacement surgery has a high success rate and therefore the patients need not worry about the success of the surgery. There are a few things that should be kept in mind to make the surgery successful. One should consider for it only if the knee ligaments are intact and that the body should not put too much weight on the knees which means obese people should not consider it. The partial knee replacement surgery is followed by a knee rehabilitation process. This process is carried out by a therapist and is a mandatory process. This rehab program allows the knee to catch back its movement and move freely and naturally as before. The rehab process should be joined immediately after the surgery. All in all the surgery and rehab would free the knee of all the pain and allow free and comfortable movement of the knee joint. Another major problem for the people involved in heavy physical work and sports is the Anterior Cruciate Ligament problem. This ligament is very important in twisting and cutting movements. The common sports where such movements are important are football, basketball, gymnastics and baseball. The ACL reconstruction is the process by which the ligament is brought back to its normal state. There are two methods for the ACL Reconstruction process namely the auto graft and the allograft. In auto graft method, the replacement tissue is derived from the body of the patient whereas in allograft method, it is derived from cadaver. The ligament joins the tibia from the front to the femur bone. A vertical incision like other knee surgeries is made into the knee for the ACL reconstruction. The damaged ligament matter is removed while the new one is inserted.