Custom Knee Replacement
Mr Gerald Lim, Orthopaedic Surgeon at Murdoch Orthopaedic Clinic, reviewed a patient he has been keenly following; a 66 year old man who is 195 cm tall.
Initially the patient presented to Mr Lim over a year ago with severe osteoarthritis of both knees and a “windswept” deformity whereby one knee was severely bowed and the other severely knock-kneed.
The patient required a total knee replacement of both knees.
On templating, it was discovered that his knees were too large and no standard commercially available knee replacements could accommodate the size of his knees.
Then began the difficult process of custom making a new XXL component. This required the engineers to design a knee replacement that was the appropriate size for him.
Following the design, new cutting blocks had to be made to enable the bone to be cut in the right position, to accommodate the new design.
The longest delay was then sourcing a large enough cobalt chromium alloy block that could be then used to custom make the prosthesis.
Mr Lim saw the patient a month following his second total knee replacement and the patient is very happy with his knees and able to get around without any aids.
This case shows that every knee is different and sometimes “off the shelf” won’t work.