Surgeons question whether the benefits of premium knee implants outweigh the extra costs (Cover Story @ OrthoSuperSite)
Premium knee implants, such as mobile-bearing and high-flexion knees, were created to address specific patient needs and provide the function that today’s younger, more active patient desires. But whether these premium implants provide greater longevity than their standard lower-cost counterparts remains to be seen in the literature.
With many of these premium implants being on the market for as few as 5 years, some surgeons note that the necessary long-term data on these designs are not yet available.
“The concept of a premium knee is to improve the longevity of total knees and to improve the function,” Michael Kelly, MD, chairman of orthopedic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J., told Orthopedics Today. “Surgeons like the versatility . . . The more premium knee sometimes offers more sizes [and] more adaptability to a given knee.”
“Premium implants offer the surgeon increased flexibility to deal with challenges that are unique perhaps to the particular patient that he or she may be dealing with,” Adolph Lombardi Jr., MD, FACS, of ...
