Darius is 55 and he had previous undergone multiple orthopaedic procedures on his right knee, after a severe injury playing American Football.
As a result, Darius had developed extremely severe arthritis in his knee, with stiffness, pain and reduced function.
When he came to see me Darius’s knee looked absolutely awful — actually one of the worse that I’ve ever seen:
The knee was severely stiff with massive osteophyte formation and significant deformity.
Initially, I wasn’t certain whether Darius’s knee would fall within the appropriate design envelope for what’s feasibly achievable with a custom-made Conformis prosthesis, or whether I might have to resort to use a bigger, more invasive revision-type prosthesis that would have required more bone excision and stems up the femur and done the tibia, and possibly even a hinge (which would have been a significant concern for someone having joint replacement surgery at the age of just 55, with respect to potential prospects of any necessary revision surgery in the longer-term future).
Darius had a CT scan of his knee and the CT data was sent to Conformis. I was then able to discuss Darius’s case with the Conformis design engineers, and between us we decided that Darius’s knee was appropriate for an iTotal-PS posteriorly-stabilised custom-made prosthesis.
Darius had his knee surgery under my care at The London Bridge Hospital on 5th December 2017. Everything went well, and Darius was out of hospital within just a few days. Darius then got stuck straight into his rehab treatments with his physio.
I saw Darius back in clinic recently, at the 6-week post-op mark — which is very early after a knee replacement, as patients tend to take up to 6 months to plateau in their recovery from this kind of major surgery.
Darius’s knee looked amazing!
The wound was healing up nicely and the joint swelling was minor. The deformity was corrected perfectly, and most importantly Darius stated that his knee felt really good, and he was no longer needing to take any painkillers or anti-inflammatories anymore. The knee now has full extension, and already, by just 6 weeks post-op, Darius was able to flex the knee fantastically!
This all goes to show just what can actually be achieved in even the most difficult and severe knees with a Conformis custom-made knee prosthesis and with a patient who commits fully and appropriately to their post-op rehab!
Thank you Conformis!!
Mr Ian McDermott
Consultant Knee Surgeon
London Sports Orthopaedics