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Custom knee replacement no longer 'one size fits all' procedure

05:39 PM CDT on Friday, August 24, 2007

Janice Williamson/ 11 News

New technology is changing the way some surgeons do their job in the operating room.

Janice Williamson's 11 News report

Total knee replacements can now be done in half the time because of a unique software program.

The result is a custom fit knee that requires less recovery time.

When Diane Janda walks out her back door she enters paradise.

Working on her beloved gardens takes up hours of her time. But that labor of love now comes at a price because Janda’s left knee is rubbing bone on bone.

“The pain really hurts. I have trouble walking,” Diane Janda said.

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Osteoarthritis has destroyed the cushion of this 51-year-old patient.

“I just got to the point where it was hurting so bad I just couldn’t take it,” Janda said.

She will undergo a new procedure to replace her knee, a custom total knee replacement.

“The breakthrough here is that every patient, male or female, gets a custom fit of a total knee to their bone shape and to their soft tissue,” Dr. Larry Likover said.

They are no longer one or two sizes fit all.

“The process begins with an MRI. The images are sent to a California company that uses one of a kind computer software to create a custom knee,” Dr. Likover said.

The result is a virtual knee model and a surgical cutting guide to ensure a perfect fit. Measuring used to be done during surgery. Now, it’s all done ahead of time.

“This gives a surgeon like myself an exact level of where to cut the bone so I can correct all of her deformity and balance the soft tissue,” Dr. Likover said.

This process has cut in half the time of Surgery and recovery.

Diane Janda should soon be tending her flowers again, pain free.

 

 

E-mail 11 News reporter Janice Williamson

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