High Flexion Knee Replacements

We have with us Doctor Dr Neelam V. Ramana Reddy(MS Ortho; MCh Ortho (UK)) who is a Consultant Joint Replacement Surgeon,at Wockhardt Bone & Joint Care at Kamineni Wockhardt Hospitals, and King Koti Hyderabad.

Doctor Neelam talks to us about "Hi Flexion Knee Replacement"

Arthritis of knee is the world’s leading cause of disability. Arthritis causes pain, swelling, inability to walk, reduced bending of knee, inability to sit cross legged, deformity and so on.

Conventional total knee replacement is a well-known treatment for advanced knee arthritis. Knee replacement surgery provides excellent results to the patient, relieving him from pain. The surgery also improves walking ability and allows pain-free knee bending. Most importantly, it improves the quality of life of the patients.

Flexion is the action of bending a joint, such as your knee or elbow. The opposite motion is extension, which is the straightening of a joint. Generally, traditional knee replacements accommodate flexion up to 110 degrees and have not been designed to allow the patients to squat and kneel, which require higher flexion. Many daily activities require a higher range of motion: Gardening, golfing or activities such as kneeling for prayer and sitting cross-legged can demand up to 130-150 degrees of bending.

Recent innovation of knee design (High Flexion Rotating Platform Knees) is a breakthrough where complete flexion upto 155 degrees could be achieved. Desire for high flexion may be dictated by patient’s favourite activities or cultural background. Many daily activities require the ability to flex the knee beyond 120 degrees.

The fixed bearing conventional knee provides 110 degrees of flexion. For most patients, this is not enough. The rotating platform knee is specially designed to safely accommodate up to 155 degrees of flexion in patients who has good pre operative range of motion. This means that with appropriate rehabilitation a patient can resume an active life style after total knee replacement – deeply bending the knee for recreation. Day to day activities, which may include prolonged kneeling, squatting and cross-legged sitting, can be done.

Complete knee bending is a pre requisite for the patients of Asia, Japan and more so in Indian continent. This will raise high level of confidence in patients to get surgery done as they will also get good flexion. So now day’s patients should not hesitate to get knee replacement done due to reduced knee bending after knee replacement.

To know more about Knee Replacement Surgery or to fix up an appointment with Doctor Neelam Reddy, please write in to enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net or log on here