Patent ID: 9173743
Filing Date: 2015-11-03
Classification: A61B,A61F

Abstract:
1. A method of implanting a lateral unicondylar knee prosthesis in a lateral articulating portion of a femur having a lateral condyle for engagement with a tibia, the method comprising the steps of: bending a patient's knee such that the knee is not in full extension; making an incision through the skin, muscle, and other soft tissue until the damaged bone surfaces are exposed; resecting an end portion of the lateral tibia; resecting an end portion of the lateral femoral condyle; attaching a tibial prosthetic component to the resected end portion of the tibia; attaching a lateral femoral condyle prosthetic component to the resected end portion of the lateral femoral condyle; determining an appropriate thickness for a mobile bearing member with the knee in full extension so that a lateral collateral ligament is tight in full knee extension and is slack in knee flexion; and inserting the mobile bearing member having the determined thickness between the tibial prosthetic component and the femoral prosthetic component, wherein the step of resecting the end portion of the lateral tibia comprises: sawing vertically a cut through the center of a patella tendon positioned in line with the medial side of the lateral femoral condyle; and sawing horizontally a cut that removes bone to approximately 8 mm below the original tibial articular surface or 2 to 3 mm below the eburnated bone of the tibia to accommodate the tibial prosthetic component and the mobile bearing member with the knee in full extension.