It is obvious for knee surgeons that only a very small amount of bone material must be removed for the implant of an individual knee arthroplasty. Many patients come to us under the false assumption that big pieces of bone must be cut away, a hand width above and below the knee. That would be very large pieces.
The reality looks much more friendly: Merely some millimeter thicke pieces will be removed, namely the surfaces of each side of the joint, in order to create enough space for the surface covering on both sides of the joint of the upper and lower leg. Everything takes place within the envelope of laxity of your knee ligaments. Great precision in terms of the ligament tension is necessary. The problem of a change in the length of the legs, as can happen with hip prostheses, is therefore a non-issue with knee prostheses.

• Partial Knee Replacement