REVIEWS   

Minerva Ortopedica e Traumatologica 2004 December;55(6):239-55

Copyright © 2004 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Minimally invasive arthroplasty of the knee

Tria A. J. Jr.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery St. Peter’s University Hospital Robert Wood Johnson Medical School New Brunswick, NJ, USA

Unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) date back to the mid 1970’s. While TKA technology improved rapidly, UKA was fraught with difficulties. In the early 1990’s Repicci introduced the concept of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for UKA. The technique redeveloped interest in UKA and led to further refinement of the surgery. In the year 2002 the MIS approach was applied to TKA. This article reviews the surgical approaches, the post operative management, and the early results of both procedures when performed using the MIS technique.