What Are Recent Advances in Knee Joint Replacement Surgery?
Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has revolutionized knee replacement surgery as well as many fields of medicine. Its key characteristic is that it uses specialized techniques and instrumentation to enable the surgeon to perform major surgery without a large incision. MIS knee joint replacement requires a much smaller incision, three to five inches, versus the standard approach and incision, which is typically eight to twelve inches. The smaller, less invasive approaches result in less tissue trauma by allowing the surgeon to work between the fibers of the quadriceps muscles instead of requiring an incision through the tendon. It may lead to less pain, decreased recovery time and better motion due to less scar tissue formation. Currently this less invasive procedure is performed by only a small percentage of orthopaedic surgeons in North America. Because this type of surgery is still relatively new, research has been initiated to determine how the immediate and long-term results will co
