CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (Feb. 26, 2007) – Eden Medical Center is now offering the Zimmer® Gender Solutions™ Knee, a knee replacement shaped to fit a woman’s anatomy.
Nearly two-thirds of the more than 400,000 annual knee replacement patients are women, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, and the numbers continue to increase each year. Yet research shows that while both women and men vastly underuse knee replacement, women are three times less likely than men to undergo the procedure, although they suffer from more knee pain and resulting disability. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports knee replacement can substantially reduce pain while improving function and quality of life.
“The new Gender Solutions Knee is shaped and sized to optimally fit the female knee and should make women more open to having a knee replacement,” said Dr. Gregg Pottorff, a board certified orthopedic surgeon with privileges at Eden Medical Center, who began using the implants late last year. All other implants being used for total knee replacement are based upon an average between women’s and men’s knees.
The goals of the Gender Solutions Knee include alleviating knee pain, restoring mobility and offering fit and function that is optimized for the characteristics more commonly seen in female patients. Further, it can be implanted using less-invasive techniques, which typically offer smaller scars, shorter hospitalization and quicker recovery. It also safely accommodates high flexion, which is necessary for many activities involving deep bending.
The knee joint is composed of three bones: the end of the femur (thighbone), the top of the tibia (shinbone) and the patella (kneecap), which are all held together by tendons and ligaments and cushioned by cartilage. Factors such as arthritis, injury and infection can cause knee pain and deterioration of the cartilage. When the cartilage is gone, the bones grind up against each other, wearing away and typically then causing severe knee pain. Total knee replacement involves removing the portion of the bone that is damaged and resurfacing the knee with metal and plastic implants.
The Gender Solutions Knee is based on a scientific database called the knee bone atlas, which was created for Zimmer. The continually growing knee bone atlas is based on more than 800 knees and kneecaps, and uses three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) imaging data to generate highly detailed virtual blueprints for the knee as it looks after surgeons have removed the bone and are ready to place the implant. The results of the atlas have confirmed that the shape of women’s knees typically fall into different, statistically significant ranges than men’s.
Incorporating this new data and existing research about gender differences, the Gender Solutions Knee was created to address the following three shape-related anatomical differences of a woman’s knee:
1. Thinner Profile – The bone in the front of a woman’s knee is typically less prominent than a man’s. Traditional implants have a thickness in front that may end up feeling bulky, which may result in pain and a decrease in range of motion. The Gender Solutions Knee has a thinner profile to accommodate this anatomical difference between men and women.
2. More Natural Movement – The angle between the hip and the knee affects how the kneecap moves over the thighbone when the knee is in motion. Women have a distinct shape which frequently results in a different angle between the hip and the knee when compared to men. The Gender Solutions Knee accounts for this difference, allowing for more natural movement.
3. Contoured Shape – The Gender Solutions Knee has a contoured shape to more closely match the narrower anatomy of a woman’s knee. This contouring provides for a more precise fit and may prevent the implant from overhanging the bone and potentially pressing on or damaging surrounding ligaments and tendons.
Eden Medical Center is a not-for-profit, community-based medical center that includes Eden Hospital, San Leandro Hospital, Laurel Grove Acute Rehabilitation Hospital and Baywood Court Skilled Nursing Facility. By working together, Eden Medical Center's physicians, volunteers and dedicated employees ensure that the community has access to exceptional medical, surgical, psychiatric and rehabilitative services. Eden, celebrating 50 years of serving the health care needs of the community, offers a wide range of health and wellness classes, support groups and specialty services for the entire family. For a complete listing or to explore our full library of health information, visit San Leandro Hospital online at www.sanleandrohospital.org.
|
