Mr Shepard & ConforMis Implants featured in the press

Keen sportsman Mike Dunn had suffered problems with his knee for 25 years and had undergone several operations. Mike thought his sports playing days were behind him as his knee got progressively worse. Luckily Mr Shepard used a digitally-designed bespoke ConforMIS knee implant which gave him back the function to play football with his grandkids. See the links below for the press cuttings featuring this life transforming procedure.

Blackpool Citizen

Bolton News

Bury Times

Chorley Citizen

Preston Citizen

Prestwich Guide

This is Lancashire

West Moreland Gazette

Lancashire Evening Post

Total Joint Replacement

When more than one part of the knee joint is arthritic and the symptoms being suffered justify surgery, a total knee replacement (TKR) is performed. In this procedure all the bearing surfaces of the knee are cut off and replaced with a combination of metal linings to the bone and plastic spacers. The movement takes place at the interface between the metal and the plastic.

Patients are encouraged to start moving the knee in the immediate post-operative phase and start walking with aids on the day after surgery. Patients will go home between 3 and 7 days post-operatively dependent on progress. Most of the recovery from TKR is achieved in the first 6 months but some improvement continues to occur for up to 2 years post-operatively.

If performed well, the knee should go fully straight and bend back to about 120 degrees and should be pain-free. Total knee replacement still suffers from a bad reputation, but in fact is a very successful operation with over 90% of implanted knees surviving over 15 years. This success rate is better than for hip replacement. Most outcome studies suggest between 10 and 15% of people still have some discomfort after their surgery but the majority of these people are still satisfied with their surgery.

Pain relief after knee replacement surgery

Traditionally pain relief after knee replacement surgery has been opiate (morphine) based delivered intravenously. This has often resulted in severe nausea for the patient and this has subsequently slowed down the patients rehabilitation.

For the past few years Mr Shepard has been injecting a large volume of local anaesthetic and anti-inflammatory drugs around the knee at the time of surgery and in addition inserting a very fine catheter into the knee so that a further infusion of the drugs can be given the following day.

The effects have been striking with most patients able to flex the knee, powerfully straight leg raise and walk on the day of surgery with little pain. Surprisingly for many patients the effect persists even after the local anaesthetic would have worn off.

Most patients are now going home on simple painkillers on the second day post-op.

“I was amazed at how little pain I had after my knee replacement! I went home the day after surgery and never had to take anything stronger than paracetamol and brufen. Now (six weeks after surgery) I am walking normally again.” 
Mr FB Total Knee Replacement, October 2012

Patello-Femoral (Partial) Replacement

Patello-femoral joint replacement is a partial joint replacement performed when the patello-femoral (behind the kneecap) joint is very arthritic but the rest of the knee is spared. The front of the knee joint is removed and a metal lining is attached in it’s place. The worn back of the kneecap is removed and a polyethylene button is attached to the bone. The button then runs on the metal liner thus relieving the pain of arthritis.

Patients are generally in hospital for 3 to 5 days and take approximately 3-6 months to recover fully.

Minimally Invasive Unicompartmental (Partial) Replacement

When only one side of the knee joint is affected by arthritis it may be possible to replace only the side affected rather than the whole knee (Unicompartmental knee replacement). This can be performed through a much shorter and less painful incision by the use of MINIMALLY INVASIVE (MI) techniques. The affected surfaces are removed and relined with metal implants and a mobile polyethylene spacer is inserted between the implants.

The effect of a shorter incision and MI techniques is a much shorter stay in hospital, a quicker recovery and normally a better range of motion in the knee. Unfortunately it is not suitable for all people with single sided arthritis. For example, a person with arthritis on the inside of the knee who wishes to continue working in a heavy job would do better with an osteotomy of the tibia whereas the same person in a sedentary job may do better with a unicompartmental knee replacement.