Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Should You Request a Gender-Specific Joint Prosthesis?
A reader asks: “I'm a 62-year-old woman and I need to have total knee replacement surgery. Will I have better results if I get a gender-specific prosthesis?” Here’s what we recommend.
Despite the differences between knee anatomy in men and women, no study has ever shown that conventional knee replacement does not work as well in women as it does in men. An interesting study from Korea adds to that body of evidence.
The investigators compared gender-specific and standard prosthetic knees in 138 women who needed replacement of both knees because of severe osteoarthritis. In each woman, one knee was replaced with a standard prosthesis, and the other was replaced with a gender-specific prosthesis designed for women. This way, each woman served as her own control for the gender-specific prosthetic knee. Both types of prosthetic joints were produced by the same manufacturer.
The standard and gender-specific prosthetic knees produced similar satisfaction and range of motion three months and a year after surgery as well as in subsequent visits. X-rays used to evaluate the alignment, position, angle, and other aspects of the new knees showed no important differences between the two prosthetic joints.
If you are contemplating knee surgery, discuss the selection of a prosthetic knee with your surgeon -- and heed his or her recommendation.
Posted in Arthritis on March 28, 2011
Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. Click here for additional information: Johns Hopkins Health Alerts Disclaimer
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