New medial knee implant system for better knees

(New York-WABC, February 15, 2007) (WABC) -- There is a new way to treat knee pain without knee replacement surgery.

Seven's on call with Dr. Jay Adlersberg.

Standard knee replacement surgery generally means a couple days in the hospital and then quite a bit of physical therapy to get active again. Doctors now have an alternative for some patients. It can mean a shorter operation and a faster recovery.

You wouldn't know it, but six weeks ago, 59-year-old, Ellyn Shepard suffered from terrible knee pain.

"It just took my breath away," Shepard said.

Now, she happily baby sits her granddaughter, thanks to a new knee implant recently approved by the FDA as an alternative to partial or total knee replacement.

"The surgery was amazing! Just amazing! I couldn't get over how quickly I felt better," Shepard says.

The new metallic implant is called the OrthoGlide. It's inserted within the knee joint to replace some of the cartilage function lost to osteoarthritis. The procedure requires significantly less tissue and no bone removal as other replacement options do.

"We are trying to maintain their natural knee as long as possible. And although we don't know yet if we'll be able to totally avoid a knee replacement, things are looking very positive with our early results," Dave Trotter, M.D., an Orthopedic surgeon at Center for Sports Orthopedics in Hoffman Estates, Ill., tells Dr. Jay Adlersberg.

Patients report much quicker recovery times with less physical therapy than a partial or total knee replacement. They also experience pain relief and a good range of motion after undergoing the hour-long procedure.

Dr. Trotter says it's still too early to know for how long the implant will last and if these patients will still need the more extensive standard operation.

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