Patients are being offered “tailor-made” knee implants for crippling joint conditions affecting tens of thousands a year.
The replacement knees — being pioneered by the private London Sports Orthopaedics partnership of specialist surgeons and doctors — are an exact replica of the patient’s joint. Available privately for £14,000, surgery is now also being offered to NHS patients.
Previously, surgeons have used “one-size-fits-all” replacement joints which come in different sizes but are all the same shape, meaning the patient’s bone has to be cut to fit. The new bespoke ConforMIS implant is designed to mirror the exact contours of an individual knee and can mimic the mechanics of the joint, allowing the patient to walk and move normally again.
Custom-making the joint means far less bone has to be taken away, so surgery is less invasive. More than 70,000 knee replacements are carried out in England and Wales each year. The knee joint is the largest and most complex in the body, making surgery a challenge.
One of the most painful and debilitating problems affecting it is osteoarthritis, triggered by wear and tear on tissue or cartilage covering the joint. Cartilage is essential for the joint to move smoothly but it can get damaged or wear away. When this happens, the knee becomes inflamed and painful.
With the new treatment, a 3D scan is taken of the existing joint and used to create a customised implant, which is then fixed to the bone in an operation lasting just one hour.
Father-of-two Richard Armfield, 51, from Croydon, was one of the first in the UK to have the new operation. He had surgery just over a month ago and is looking forward to playing hockey and skiing again.
The civil engineer said: “My knees were worn out from too much rough sport. I had a cartilage injury which started to deteriorate. It was arthritic — the knee was worn through and would get puffed up after a day on the slopes. Even walking was becoming difficult.
“The operation has made a dramatic improvement. My condition had been restricting my life but now it’s like I’ve got my freedom back.”
