Kneecap Reconstruction a Viable Option (written by Bilione Young @ OTW)
Five percent of 500,000 is 25,000. That is the number of patients who got a knee replacement last year who might have been just as well served by having a smaller, more focused surgery. That surgery would have reconstructed just their kneecap—called the paellofemoral.
Dr. Ronald Grelsamer, chief of patellofemoral reconstruction at Mount Sinai Medical Center, says, "A type of partial knee replacement, called a patellofemoral replacement, is an option for patients with kneecap arthritis. It's a partial knee replacement that replaces only the kneecap and the underlying femoral groove, leaving all the healthy structures of the knee intact."
The kneecap is a bone with a thick undersurface of cartilage. "The kneecap glides within a groove, and that groove also has cartilage," says Grelsamer. "The cartilage is durable, but like the brakes in your car, it can wear down." When the undersurface of the kneecap wears out and a condition called patellofemoral arthritis develops, patients may benefit from a patellofemoral replacement. "The classic symptom is persistent pain at the front of the knee, often expe...
