| Arthritic knee joints may be repaired either partially | | | | times from the operation. |
| or totally - known as partial knee replacement and | | | | The primary limitation with the UNI procedure is that |
| total knee replacement. A partial knee replacement is | | | | the surgery only works for bone that has not been |
| also called unicompartmental or "UNI". If the bone | | | | too damaged by the arthritis. It also requires that the |
| disease is restricted to the inner side of the knee | | | | other ('lateral') side of the knee joint have healthy |
| (the 'medial' side), the surgeon will simply reshape | | | | cartilage. The average age of UNI knee patients will |
| those damaged surfaces. The repaired surfaces on | | | | therefore be a lot younger than those going for total |
| that one side of the knee are then partially covered | | | | knee replacements. This means that the UNI |
| with a combination of metal and plastic bearings. For | | | | resurfacing option may only be a good choice for a |
| this reason, a UNI knee replacement is considered | | | | small percentage of knee patients. |
| less invasive and can provide much shorter recovery | | | | |