Compare Total Knee to MIPKR

 Total knee vs MIPKR

MIPKR	Total Knee ReplacementMIPKR
3 – 4 inch incision	8 – 9 inch incision
Quadriceps muscle not cut, kneecap not dislocated	Quadriceps muscle cut and kneecap turned over and dislocated
ACL and PCL left in place to stabilize knee	ACL and usually PCL (stabilizing knee ligaments) removed
very little bone removed	large amount of bone removed
very little blood loss	significant blood loss
formal therapy usually not needed, patients exercise on own	formal physical therapy required average about 2 months
walker about 3 days, cane a week*	walker 2-3 weeks, cane another 2-3 weeks*
narcotic pain meds 3-7 days*	narcotic pain meds 2-4 weeks*
infection rate 1 per thousand	infection rate about 15 per thousand
antibiotics not required for dental procedures	antibiotics required for dental procedures
natural gait	gait permanently altered (to a small degree)

* There is great variation among patients, these are general observations I have made

Why would anyone choose Total Knee that has unicompartmental OA?

If they are given the choice it is rare for a patient to do so, but the reasons would be:  

1. Since all of the compartments are resurfaced, the possibility of progression of OA to other compartments is not there. Fortunately this does not occur frequently with partial knees
2. There are lots of long term studies that show good durability of total knees, fewer studies long term on partial knees, although mid term studies like my own look promising
3. In the presence of morbid obesity a total knee spreads out the weight bearing surface to a larger area and might be a better choice. This has not been proven though