Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group

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Knee Care at Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group

The knee specialists at Northwestern Medicine Regional Medical Group have helped make Northwestern Medicine Orthopaedics one of the largest joint replacement programs in the Midwest. Knee specialists are trained to treat you for a wide range of knee problems, including sports and work-related injuries, knee arthritis, osteoarthritis, ligament injuries and tears, fractures and trauma.

When personalizing your care plan, conservative or nonsurgical treatment is always preferred. If surgery is needed, our knee surgeons are skilled at minimally invasive surgery, advanced arthroscopic procedures, and total and partial knee replacement. Our nonsurgical knee specialists treat conditions such as bursitis, osteoarthritis and tendinitis, and can offer a range of non-operative treatment options.

Mako™ Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery

Hip and knee joints are involved in almost every activity. Walking, bending, turning and other movements require the use of the hip and knee joints. When the hip or knee becomes diseased of injured, the resulting pain can severely limit your ability to function.

One common cause of hip or knee pain is osteoarthritis (OA). OA is sometimes called degenerative arthritis because it is a “wearing out” condition involving the breakdown of cartilage in the joints. When cartilage wears away, the bones rub against each other, causing pain and stiffness.

What is Partial Knee Replacement?

Partial knee replacement is a surgical procedure that helps relieve arthritis in one or two of the three compartments of the knee.

With partial knee replacement, only the damaged area of the knee joint is replaced, which may help to minimize trauma to healthy bone and tissue.

There are three types of partial knee replacement:

Unicondylar Knee Replacement is a procedure that replaces only the single affected compartment of the knee, either the medial or lateral compartment.
Patellofemoral Knee Replacement is a procedure that replaces the worm patella (the kneecap) and the trochlea (the groove at the end of the thigh bone).
Bicompartmental Knee Replacement is a procedure that replaces two compartments of the knee, the medial and patellofemoral compartments.

The Mako technology can be used for partial knee replacement, which is a procedure designed to relieve the pain caused by joint degeneration due to osteoarthritis. By selectively targeting the part of your knee damaged by osteoarthritis, your surgeon can replace the diseased part of your knee while helping to spare the health bone and ligaments surrounding it.

How Mako™ Robotic-Arm Assisted Surgery Works

Pre-surgery: A personalized plan. It begins with a CT scan of the joint that is used to generate a 3D virtual model of your unique anatomy. This virtual model is loaded into the Mako system software and is used to create a personalized pre-operative plan.

In the operating room. During surgery, your surgeon guides the robotic-arm while preparing the joint and positioning the implant based on the personalized pre-operative plan. The Mako system also allows the surgeon to make adjustments to the plan during surgery, as needed. When the surgeon prepares the bone for the implant, the Mako system guides the surgeon within the pre-defined area and helps prevent the surgeon from moving outside the planned boundaries. This helps provide more accurate placement and alignment of the implant.

After surgery. Your surgeon, nurses and physical therapists will set goals to get you moving again. They will closely monitor your condition and progress. Your surgeon may review an X-ray of the new joint replacement with you.