Prothesis
Articular cartilage facilitates movement and acts as a shock absorber. If it is injured or vanishing (after a trauma or due to ageing) the joint will start to hurt and swell up. At the same time there may be instability and loss of movement. Typical joints where this can happen are shoulder, hip and knee.
How do we replace a joint by a prosthesis ?
During the surgical procedure we completely or partially cut out bone, cartilage and ligaments of the joint and replace these by implants made of metal, ultra-hard polyethylene and ceramics (prosthesis). The surgery takes place in an ultra-sterile operating theatre using lamina-flow and antibiotics.