DW Murray  BE Marks  L Kontochristos  et al

The Oxford Knee is the most widely used unicompartmental knee replacement (UKR). It was introduced 37 years ago and has a fully congruent mobile bearing and therefore very low wear. Its primary indication is antero-medial osteoarthritis, which is present in at least 50% of patients needing knee replacement. Due to its design the traditional contraindications for UKR such as age, activity, obesity, patello-femoral joint damage and chondrocalcinosis do not apply. Compared with total knee replacement (TKR) it provides a more rapid recovery, better function, better range of movement, better satisfaction, fewer and less severe complications and lower morbidity and mortality. An independent study, conducted over 30 years, has shown that in about 90% of cases the Oxford Knee provides good or excellent results for the patient’s life time and does not require a revision. For the last 15 years the Oxford Knee has been implanted through a minimally invasive approach. Using this approach nine studies involving 6000 knees have reported 10 year survival rates of about 95%. In many of these studies the surgeons used the Oxford Knee in about 50% of their patients requiring knee replacement.