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I have been playing athletics since I could remember. I also can remember when my knees started to hurt and affect my ability to perform on and off the field. Today I have constant knee pain and I am only 22 years old. It sucks having pain all the time and being this early in my life I almost feel like I have 60-year-old knees in a 22 year old body.
I have seen many doctors about my knees, probably starting around my years in middle school. At first I was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter Disease, which causes knee pain in young athletes. It causes swelling, pain and tenderness under the knee, right over the shinbone. It is mostly seen in boys that are having a large growth spurt during their teenage years. In my case it started to happen earlier en most people and it affected both of my knees. The only cure for this was to ice before and after competition, practice, or whenever it hurt. Eventually I grew out of it, but my knee pain become worse and I eventually made my way to a very prestigious hospital in New York City, called the Hospital For Special Surgery, where they specialized in knees. At this hospital they have all of the top technology that helps them determine what exactly is wrong with a patient. In my case I was sent to receive x-rays, and MRI’s so the doctor could receive a better and more intense look into my knees and what exactly was going on. Once the doctor received the results of both procedures he told me to stop playing sports or you will be having a lot more pain and will need major surgery down the road. Well, he was right. He diagnosed me with a Patella Knee Syndrome and Patellar Subluxation and Dislocation. Both are related to an over-use of the knees from too much activity. The doctor determined that my kneecap does not fit correctly it my knee cap socket. He called it a “floating knee.” So me being stubborn I did not stop playing and continued to play three sports during high school, football, wrestling, and lacrosse. During my sophomore year at wrestling practice I dislocated both of my kneecaps at the exact same time. I made a choice to stop wrestling and just concentrate of football and lacrosse for the remainder of high school.
When I was accepted to Drew University I knew I wanted to play lacrosse so I did. I knew my knees were going to still be in pain but I was determined to prove everyone wrong and achieve in playing. I am a senior now and have had some ups and downs during the seasons. When my team went to San Diego during our annual spring break to play different colleges around the area I did it again, I fell right on my knee cap and broke it. I eventually finished out the season with a broken kneecap and eventually received arthroscopic surgery on my knee. The doctor told me that my knee will never be the same from this injury and already knew what he was going to say, which was to stop playing. Ha, I never stopped. So now in my senior year I am in need of a total knee replacement on my right knee. I am in constant pain, even if it is walking to class, sitting on a chair, or walking up stairs. I am at a point that I need to take some days off from practice just so I can recover form the last practice. I am pretty much ruining my knee playing but my love of the game is much stronger then the pain that I have. I am trying to wait it out and finish out my senior year before I receive the surgery, but it is just day-by-day for now.
What I am trying to get at is that the technology of knee replacements today are high tech. and less intense. Researchers and doctors have been working on new technology for knee implants because existing implants usually only last from 10 to 15 years, and doctors are frequently hesitant to give them to young patients because they will usually outlive their implants.
One new technology that has been formed is Three- dimensional imaging, which was invented by Smith and Nephew Orthopedics, who work out of the Hospital for Special Surgery. They call it VectorVision, which is a “global positioning system for the body.” VectorVision allows surgeons to use preoperative pinpointing images to, “See and track the position of their choice of surgical instruments intraoperatively through a touch-screen interface. The VectorVision system empowers surgeons to select the optimal implant during total joint replacement surgery by using a patient’s 3-D image data.” It makes it easier to guarantee that the ligaments of the patient’s knee have the suitable tension after the operation is complete. This will allow the patients knee to move more smoothly after the knee replacement. There are an increasing number of people that need knee replacements and VectorVision gives hope to patients that there will be less pain and a shorted recovery period after surgery.
Dr. Tilok Ghose, who practices at the Aspen Medical Group's Bloomington says, “The system provides improved accuracy, which is especially important since the average age of patients requiring knee replacements is getting younger.” Seeing all these innovate studies and new technology for knee replacements puts a little less stress on me and give me hope for an easy recovery.
Computer Assisted Surgery (CAS) is also another way that surgeons and doctors and finding it easier to give patients knee replacements.
How does Computer Assisted Surgery work?
This new technology uses specials tracking devices to give a doctor a better understanding of patient’s joint workings while in the operating room. With specific information the surgeon can make specific adjustments or changed to help ensure the new joint has the right stability and range of motion that is needed for a successful knee replacement. This technology uses the latest computer engineering to make a surgery more precise then without the use of computer assisted surgery. While in surgery doctors are now able to obtain infrared trackers to calculate an instruments position and the wireless instrument transfers the data to a computer that sits right next to the surgeon. The information that is picked up if displayed on a monitor, which looks very similar to a “blue print.” This gives the doctor comprehensive views of the angles, lines, and measurements of the patients knee and anatomy. Special pins are also used to track the incision that is made by the surgeon and these are also sent to the computer and make the surgery even more exact. This new technology can reduce the number of incisions and reduce scarring.
Knee Replacement Surgery Video Please check this out.
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| Before After |
Knee Replacement Surgery Video Please check this out.
Advantages of Computer Assisted Surgery
· Cutting bone and positioning the components with an accuracy up to 0.5 degrees and 0.5 mm
· Constant guidance, monitoring and confirmation during surgery -ability to judge the bony cuts before actually making the cuts
· Ability to verify the cut to very precise accuracy
· Increased implant longevity.
· 3 Dimensional planning.
· No radiation during surgery.
· Range of motion analysis to achieve maximum function.
· Correct implant selection and placement.
· Decreased incidence of pulmonary embolism in knee surgery.
· Minimally invasive surgery,
· Decreased blood loss
· Decreased hospital stay.
· Reduced complications like
, Dislocation, Impingement, and Limb length inequality
nice job. very detailed.
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