History of the Modern Total Knee Replacement Baltimore MD

Prior to the 1970's, people who were unfortunate enough to have very advanced arthritis in their knees had no really good treatment options.  The same was true for folks who experienced accidental injuries that rendered their knee joints inoperable.  Dr. John Insall was a pioneer of orthopedics who wanted to help patients in these situations.  He was the head of a specialized knee clinic and worked with some other doctors and a biochemical engineer to develop the total knee replacement Baltimore MD, also called the total condylar knee at that time.  Dr. Insall's work started in 1969, just as advances in technology and materials development were becoming sufficient to support the invention of a completely artificial knee joint that functioned similarly enough to a natural structure to make it a viable replacement.

Total Knee Replacement and Longitudinal Research

The total knee replacement surgery Baltimore became advanced enough to be commonly available to the average patient in about 1974.  Advances in materials sciences and engineering since that time have allowed the development of knee replacement implants that much more closely mimic the function and form of the biological knee joint.  Longitudinal research on patient outcomes has allowed doctors to understand more and more about the surgical process of replacing the knee joint as well.  Thanks to the Mary and Fred Trump Institute for Implant Analysis, more than 30,000 patients have been enrolled to track the performance of various stages of implant design over time.

Due to careful longitudinal research, a lot of advances have been made in the ability of the medical field to replace the biological knee joint in the last forty years or so.  Currently, there are more specific points of focus on research in this area.  One of them is experimentation with different kinds of materials that will more successfully and realistically mimic the soft tissues of the knee like the cartilage and tendons.  There is also a focus on what can be done for patients who are pre-surgery to improve their eventual outcomes.  Scientists also consider rehabilitation in different settings to determine which ones are the most effective and efficient.