Quad-Sparing Total Knee Replacement

A minimally invasive total knee replacement procedure comes with a consumer education program to help patients understand important differences between various types of minimally invasive joint-replacement surgery.

This new minimally invasive surgery (MIS) from Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (Warsaw, IN, USA), entirely spares the quadriceps muscle and tendons, which control bending of the knee. The splitting, manipulating, or cutting of some of these tissues during traditional knee-replacement surgery causes much of patients' pain during recovery and rehabilitation. Called MIS Quad-Sparing total knee arthroplasty (TKA), the procedure involves the use of special instrumentation and a modified surgical technique to place the same, clinically proven implants used in traditional knee MIS replacement surgery, but through a much smaller incision.

Compared to traditional total knee replacement surgery, the advantages of the MIS Quad- Sparing TKA include less tissue trauma, a smaller, less conspicuous incision, shorter total rehabilitation, less blood loss, less pain, and a shorter hospital stay. To date, more than 2,000 patients have had knees replaced with the Quad-Sparing technique.

"Quad-Sparing TKA has been two-and-a-half years in the making, and it's important for physicians and patients to understand the distinction between the benefits of this technique and other minimally invasive techniques available today,” noted Ray Elliot, chairman, president, and CEO of Zimmer.




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