Under the spotlight - The Unispacer - a minimally invasive alternative to knee replacement surgery
by The KNEEguru, Thursday, October 21, 2004
The UniSpacer, heralded as a minimally invasive alternative to knee replacement, has been in use for about five years now. The pioneers are beginning to present their experience to the world, amidst some controversy. I took time out to ask Dr David Trotter of the Center for Sports Orthopaedics, SC in Illinois (USA) a few questions – More »
Uni-knee/UniSpacer knee implant: A viable arthritis alternative to knee replacement
by Dr. David Trotter, Friday, October 08, 2004
Arthritis of the knee is an increasingly common problem amongst active patients, typically from ages 35 thru middle-aged and into the elderly population. The inner/medial cartilage area of the knee is quite often much more arthritic than the patellofemoral (under the kneecap) or outer/lateral compartments. However, while some patients can indeed point with one finger to the most painful portion of the knee (often that inner/medial compartment), others just say that “its my whole knee doc.” Despite the frequent perception of global knee pain, in reality, the percentage of individuals with primarily uni-compartmental/medial knee arthritis is much higher than is generally appreciated. More »
Chondromalacia
by Dr. Ronald Grelsamer, Tuesday, October 05, 2004
M.J. is 28 years old. She is involved in a car accident. Her right knee hits a sharp object and she sustains a deep, localized injury to her articular cartilage.
“You’ve sustained chondromalacia to your femoral condyle,” says the orthopedist, “and you need surgery.”
The surgery is scheduled, but the insurance company suddenly denies coverage to M.J.
Why?
The insurance company discovers that as a teenager another doctor had already diagnosed M.J. with chondromalacia. Thus her condition is “pre-existing”.
Ridiculous?
Of course. The two doctors have used the word chondromalacia to mean two different conditions.
Had both her doctors used better, more specific terms M.J. would not have to fight her insurance company. More »
Training women to prevent knee injury
by Dr. Frank Noyes, Thursday, August 05, 2004
It is well documented that women suffer 4-6 times the number of knee injuries during sport than do men. A few years ago, our team at the Cincinatti Sportsmedicine Research and Education Foundation attempted to determine whether this statistic could be reversed by specific training of women prior to undertaking sports activities [see original publication].
The National Collegiate Athletes Association (NCAA) estimated an incidence of 1 in 10 knee injuries amongst the 100,000 American collegiate women participating in sports each year.
They drew attention to the massive cost - pointing out that cruciate ligaments alone in this group cost US$37 million a year! They estimate the total annual cost of serious knee injuries in USA women athletes (high school plus college) to be in the order of US$100 million a year.
In our study we set out to determine whether specific pre-sports training might reduce this crippling expense.
More »