What is Custom made ConforMIS i-Total Knee Replacement?
ConforMIS uses a patient’s CT-scan data to manufacture an implant designed just for that patient. In a typical off-the-shelf knee replacement, on the other hand, the surgeon selects an implant from a limited range of standard sizes.
Why ConforMIS?
1 in 5 patients are not satisfied with the results of their off-the-shelf total knee replacement surgery. Residual pain and functional limitation are the two top causes of dissatisfaction after surgery.
The ideology of ConforMIS is to address both these issues through an implant designed just for the patient.
The ConforMIS i-Total knee replacement is an ODEP 5A rated implant and its specific advantages are:
- The patient-specific instrumentation allows the prosthesis to be implanted far more accurately with less room for surgical error. Publications show 100% of patients are on or within 3 degree of the mechanical axis.
- With a patient-specific prosthesis, the prosthesis matches the patient’s anatomy extremely accurately which means less bone has to be removed and a greater contact area for greater fixation.
- With a patient-specific implant there is less under-hang and therefore there are less exposed raw bone surfaces in the joint which will mean less post-operative bleeding into the joint, less pain, less swelling and a lower risk of the need to perform a blood transfusion. In turn, this all results in easier and faster patient recovery.
- With a patient-specific implant, there is also less over-hang on the femur and the tibia which means a lower probability of soft tissue impingement and ongoing postoperative symptoms
- Next, the size, shape and contours of a patient-specific prosthesis exactly match the patient’s own anatomy which gives improved kinematics of the joint and better function post-operatively.
- All of the above points contribute to the fact that numerous clinical studies have demonstrated significantly improved patient satisfaction rates with patient-specific prostheses. Clinical data from American and German studies have shown patient satisfaction rates of 95% with ConforMIS prostheses compared to just 75% - 80% with a standard off-the-shelf implant.
- Also, the latest Beyond Compliance data from the UK registry has shown a 60% reduction in intraoperative adverse events with a ConforMIS knee and also very importantly a 70% reduction in the estimated number of revisions at 2 years when compared to leading off-the-shelf knee prostheses.
- ConforMIS custom-made (patient-specific) knee implants are designed to follow every aspect of your natural knee – from its shape to the way it bends and extends. The natural shape of your unique anatomy is restored, corrected for deformity, rather than replacing it with a pre-determined, standardized geometry. This leads to a much more natural feel of the artificial knee joint.
Is ConforMIS for me?
A bespoke implant is more expensive than a traditional implant but most private health insurance companies now approve ConforMIS procedures that are performed by surgeons trained in the ConforMIS technique.
If you wish to learn more about ConforMIS please visit www.conformis.co.uk.
If you wish to discuss your suitability for this procedure then please contact us.