Question about patellar resurfacing

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I have, in both knees, a condition where I have lost most if not all of the cartilage on my patellas. I am told that resurfacing is not a good option because of possible failure ( I am 40) and that the reccomended course is to take injections and then wait for total knee failure for a complete knee replacement. My problem is that I would like to preserve the rest of the knee and it seems ashamed to let the rest of the knee go because of a bad patella. Has anyone heard about a procedure that would help?

-- Mike Navage (mnavage@aol.com), April 08, 2004

Answers

It is possible to get an isolated resurfacing of the patellofemoral joint done by certain surgeons. This is not widely accepted because of problems with the procedure in the past, but those who are doing it now believe they have solved those problems. It is also very difficult to find a patient with truly isolated disease of the patellofemoral joint who would be a good candidate. Your young age (aren't you glad to hear that?) makes it more likely that whatever type of resurfacing procedure was done would not last your lifetime and would require revision surgery.

-- Troy Dickson (tstarrd@yahoo.com), May 05, 2004.

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