Florida Hospital North Pinellas Offers Exclusive Outpatient Knee Procedure

photo courtesy Florida Hospital North Pinellas

Tarpon Springs, FLA.– Alan Graves, MD, of Palm Harbor, Vincent Kiesel, MD, of Tarpon Springs, and Gordon Zuerndorfer, MD, of Clearwater, FL, areperforming the Uni Knee procedure, a partial knee replacement, exclusively at Florida Hospital North Pinellas. The Uni Knee partial knee replacement conserves two-thirds of the knee when compared to a total knee replacement. This means a more natural feeling knee and shorter recovery for patients because the surgery is less invasive. Drs Graves, Kiesel and Zuerndorfer join doctors from across the country in using this bone and soft tissue conserving procedure to provide patients a solution for knee pain before disease progresses to the whole knee.

Osteoarthritis affecting the cartilage of the knee can require a total knee replacement, which replaces all three compartments of the knee and the ACL. The Uni Knee allows patients that catch the disease early enough to keep the healthy portions of their knee and ACL. With less disruption of the soft tissues, patients get a more natural feeling knee with less pain and a shorter recovery.

The Uni Knee allows for greater flexibility of the knee. Although it is not guaranteed that every patient can achieve the same range of motion, the Uni Knee accommodates a range of motion from standing (0 degrees) to kneeling (155 degrees). Other partial knee replacements do not accommodate the same range of motion. With the Uni Knee, patients can expect a decrease in their hospital stay; as an outpatient procedure, the Uni Knee is designed to get patients home and moving the same day of the surgery.

“The Uni Knee is a great solution for patients with isolated disease in one compartment of their knee,” said Dr. Graves, Orthopedic Surgeon. “Patients sometimes believe they need to wait until they are older or until the pain progresses to have surgery, but using performing the Uni Knee, it enables me to renew their lives and get them back to the activities that they might be giving up due to the pain in their knee.”

The Uni Knee has a 98% cumulative success rate at 10 years which is one of the highest success rates seen in unicompartmental knees to date. For a referral to one of our Uni Knee specialists or to attend an informational lecture on the Uni Knee procedure, please call (727) 943-3600.