Types of Knee Surgery

If you had a bad injury or an accident in the past, it may so happen that you may have damaged your tendons and ligaments of the knees. This may make it extremely difficult to perform simple daily activity like walking, let alone strenuous exercises. Even while lying down or sitting, you may experience pain. There are several medications, besides walking which can help relieve pain and help your tendons and torn ligaments in knees recover. However, there are times when this may not help, and that's when knee replacement surgery may be required. When you go through a surgery, the worn out tissues are corrected, which in turn helps in relieving pain. There are different types of knee surgery which may be performed, and that depends on the extent and the part of knee which is damaged. There are several knee surgery types, but here we give you some of the most common surgeries performed.

Types of Knee Replacement Surgeries

The different knee surgery types include total joint replacement, partial knee surgery, revision joint surgery and arthroscopy. Let's take a look at each of these types of knee surgery in detail:

Total Knee Replacement
If your bones, tissues or tendons have been severely damaged, you may need to go through procedure, wherein the damaged part is removed. Once the damaged part is removed a piece of metal or plastic is placed so that the function and alignment of the knees is restored. During this procedure, either femoral, tibial or patellar component is used in place of the knee joints. All these components are either made of highly polished strong metal or durable plastic. The procedure is mostly carried out in older people as there are chances that the metal or plastic may wear out if the process is carried out in younger people.

Partial Knee Surgery
If a cartilage of your knee is damaged, doctors may recommend replacing that part only and that's what is called partial knee surgery. Compared to total knee replacement surgery, in this procedure the incision is smaller, but the results of this type of procedure may not be that great in comparison to total knee replacement surgery.

Arthroplasty or Osteotomy
The procedure involves rebuilding joints, wherein the damaged parts of the knee are surgically resurfaced or realigned. Moreover, a part of the bone may be cut and repositioned so the knee can return to its normal functions.

Resection
The procedure involves removing a part of the damaged bone, cartilage or tendon. Usually it's only when a disease affects the knees to such an extent that it makes normal activities difficult that resection is recommended.

Minimally Invasive Knee Replacement
This approach is a recent phenomena, and is still a new technique of knee replacement. In this process, the incisions are comparatively smaller than other procedures, wherein a small cut is made. Through this cut a thin tube with a light is passed which allows the doctor to view the damaged part. Once this part is viewed, the surgeon takes corrective measures so that the deformity is repaired.

ACL Reconstruction Surgery
ACL stands for Anterior Cruciate Ligament, and is one of the most important ligaments in the knee. It helps to keep the knee stable and if there is any injury to this part, knee pain may occur. In case of severe damage, you may need to go through a surgical procedure to repair such damages.

Patellar Tendon Repair
The exterior part of the knee comprises the patellar tendon, and it is this part which allows us to kick something or straighten out knees. These are thick fibrous tissues and unlike other tissues in the body they don't contract and expand. They are specifically meant to carry the force of the body. When this tendon is injured due to some reason, and it gets damaged severely, surgery may be required. During the surgery strong sutures are used and are tied to the tendons. They are then passed through the kneecap by making holes in it.

So, there are different reasons for knee injury and depending on the extent of damage different types of knee surgery may be required. Before going through any one of these knee surgery types, it's important that you know the knee replacement surgery recovery time. Moreover, you need to get as much information as possible so that you know about any complications which may occur later on.