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