KNEE ARTHRITIS - Changing the forces through the joint :

UNISPACER - SUCCESS STORIES? - - Posted by KristianT (KristianT), 5 February 2004

Hi,

I'm posting this message on behalf of a non computer literate friend. We have read alot of the reports in the archives about unsuccessful Unispacer operations and were wondering whether there were any success stories on the board?

He is considering having the operation, but is being put off by what he has read so far.

Thanks for any replies

Kris


Posted by jathib (jathib), 5 February 2004

Good luck finding success stories. I think 90 percent of the stories I've read were unfavorable and resulted in the person getting a total or partial knee replacement afterwards. I may be a candidate for one but I'm going straight to a uni-compartmental replacement or an osteotomy.
Posted by JessToni (JessToni), 5 February 2004

Hello,

MY doctor, who has done a lot of research in the field, will not recommend the Unispacer to anyone.  He said they have an incredibly high failure rate because of the way they are made.  they are too bulky and hard for lack of better words.  I had mentioned it as an option for my problems and he said he would never do it.


Jess
Posted by scooby172 (scooby172), 18 February 2004

I've had my unispacer for 8 months, I did everything I was told to do regarding exercise and PT.  Unfortunately, the unispacer did not work for me.  I am in more pain and can do much less physically than I could prior to the surgery.  Additionally, my range of motion is considerably decreased.  Recovery and adjustment to the unispacer was much longer than I expected.

I will be having the unispacer taken out next month and having a unicompartmental knee replacement.  I am 41 years old and like to be active, the thought of a uni knee is a bit overwhelming but not being able to walk is not an option.

I know of one successful unispacer surgery.  I tried it because I was hoping it would work and I could avoid a more invasive surgery.  

Good luck to your friend.
Posted by stefanie (stefanie), 3 March 2004

I am also reluctantly considering the unispacer. To date have not found any positive feedback on the internet.  But my OS has performed one & that patient is happy, but it took her 5 months to finally get there!  I've also been told that there is a 50/50 chance that it will work - I'm extremely hesitant - 50/50 doesn't seem to good to me!  Don't think I'm willing to take that chance.  But I'm still researching.  

Good luck to your friend & let me know what you all find out.

~Stefanie  
Posted by stefanie (stefanie), 3 March 2004

Food for thought:  patients that are happy with their results typically don't need to get on-line & share their stories - not that I'm defending the unispacer, but I had someone point that out to me recently.

 Again good luck!
Posted by Netdock (Netdock), 9 March 2004

I would have replied intially that my unispacer surgery was a sucess, chronic pain is gone- but several month into it swelling of knee became a major problem. Now 16 months since surgery walking without a brace and pain killers is impossible.

Not sure of the next step, but at 45 I need to do something. Was going to do a Uni-compatmental but my OS thinks the following.  

The Uni-spacer worked - aligned the leg and removed the chronic pain, now with a strong knee joint I over stressed a previous damaged ACL (20 years ago) causing the leg to be unstable - thus creating the swelling, and unstable knee.

This old Forum was so valuable that we have kept it as an archive. It is just for reference. If you want to ask questions or offer advice, there is also a current Bulletin Board which you can access from our home page.