Joint replacement replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. A total hip replacement consists of replacing both the acetabulum and the femoral head while hemiarthroplasty generally only replaces the femoral head. Hip replacement is currently the most common orthopaedic operation, though patient satisfaction short- and long-term varies widely. Knee replacement involves exposure of the front of the knee, with detachment of part of the quadriceps muscle (vastus medialis) from the patella. The patella is displaced to one side of the joint, allowing exposure of the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia. The ends of these bones are
Triple tibial osteotomy to distribute load evenly across the surfaces; these are crescent-shaped discs of cartilage facing each other from side to side across the joint. They are thicker at the outside and with a thin inner aspect and they also have nerve fibres that help to tell the brain how much load is getting transmitted through the joint. The medial (inside) meniscus is often damaged with a long-standing cruciate ligament rupture because it is firmly attached to the tibia and gets crushed during abnormal cranial movement of the tibia. The lateral (outside) meniscus is more firmly attached to the femur and does