Pembroke DPhil Candidate Ed Burns Publishes Paper on Benefit of Partial Knee Replacements

We are pleased to report that Pembroke graduate student Ed Burns (DPhil Musculoskeletal Sciences, 2016) is the first author of a recent paper on the cost-effectiveness of unicompartmental knee replacements, in BMJ Open Journals. The paper is available to read here.

According to this new research, up to 50,000 patients undergoing full knee replacements each year could benefit more from a simpler surgery. Unicompartmental (or partial) knee replacements are less invasive than full knee replacement surgeries as only part of the knee joint is replaced. They allow a faster recovery time, carry less post-operative risks and provide better knee function. If more unicompartmental knee replacements were undertaken, there would be both a short-term and long-term cost saving for the NHS.

The University of Oxford researchers from the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) used routinely collected data from the National Joint Registry (NJR). Their findings show that partial replacements are better for patients who have only part of their knee affected by arthritis and could therefore have either a partial or a total replacement.

The paper, published on 30th April 2018, compared people who had a partial knee replacement with those who had a total knee replacement, but could have had a partial one. Osteoarthritis is the main reason for knee replacement surgery, and about half of these patients could be suitable for a partial replacement.

Ed commented on the potential impact of this research:

‘For patients and the NHS to see the benefits of partial replacements, we need the buy-in of surgeons, who would need to feel comfortable performing a greater proportion of their knee replacements as partials.’

‘If we see surgeons carrying out this procedure more often the proportion of knee replacements that are partials would increase from the current figure of nine per cent and we would see an increase in future economic and population health gains.’

Since publication, this research has received wid press coverage, such as this Telegraph article.