Knee Surgery

Knee problems which occur while participating in physical activity and during daily doing are multifaceted. They can be caused either through a traumatic accident or through degenerative disease with accompanying wear and tear and/or deterioration. The most common problems are created by damage to the meniscus, tendon and ligament injuries, injuries to the knee caps, varus deformities (“ bowed legs” and “knocked knees”), as well as cartilage damage and arthrosis.

The meniscus is a half-moon shaped elastic disk made of cartilage, which can be found between the surface areas of the femur (thigh bone) and the tibia (lower leg bone). Damage to the meniscus may be a result of sports, a traumatic accident, or degenerative disease. The most common injuries to the meniscus are tears, lesions, compression damage, and mechanical irritation.

The stability of the knee joints is influenced in great measure by the so-called sidebands, also known as collateral ligaments and to the cross bands, also known as cruciate ligaments. The sidebands are located along the sides of the knee joint to the right and left, whereas the cross bands can be found within the joint itself. Commonly experienced injuries to the knee are cross band strain/overextension and ruptures as well as sideband overextension and ruptures.

The patella tendon is the largest tendon within this construction. It is responsible for the transmission of force from the thighs to the lower legs and is often exposed to severe stress during physical activity. For example, sudden changes in directional movement and so-called “Stop & Go” movement may cause the patella tendon to rupture: when this happens, it is no longer possible to stretch the leg against resistance and a surgical procedure becomes necessary.

The kneecap (patella) is a disk-shaped bone in the knee joint. Its function is the transmission of strength from the frontal thigh muscles to the calf muscles via the patella tendon, and it is highly susceptible to injuries resulting from physical activity or accidents. Commonly experienced injuries to the patella are sprains, fractures, and dislocation.

Bowed legs and knocked knees are both forms of axis misalignment, a term used to describe deviations from the normal axle positioning. These forms of misalignment lead to permanent undue overburdening and dysfunctional movement patterns: this, in turn, causes pain and increased wear and tear on cartilage. Surgical procedures to correct these forms of misalignment relieve stress on the damaged cartilage by changing the angle of the leg bones, thereby reducing undue stress to the knee joint.

Cartilage damage is a description for the pattern of symptoms related to the abrasion of cartilage tissue in a joint: the cartilage is macerated and softened, causing deterioration and tears and, as an end result, to a complete depletion of the cartilage coating. In its final stages, the clinical description for cartilage damage is arthrosis. One of the most common forms of arthrosis is that of the knee joint.

Knee arthrosis is a degenerative disease of the knee joint. It describes the functional status after destruction of the cartilage coating and the resulting, extremely painful inflammatory process which leads to a reduction in mobility. Treatments for knee arthrosis range from conservative forms of therapy such as autohaematherapy (autologous blood therapy) and stem cell therapy to the implantation of an artificial knee joint.

The ability to implant artificial knee joints is one of the most significant innovations in the field of modern medicine. This solution is taken into consideration when conservative and/or preservative therapeutic measures, medication to reduce pain and inflammatory processes, and the administration of substances to sustain cartilage have failed to show results. The primary goal is to replace only damaged parts of the joint and to conserve healthy tissue as far as possible.