Total or Partial Knee Replacement?

Posted by Mari @marip, Jun 29, 2025

My husband has bone on bone with his right knee, He's seen 2 doctors one told him he needs total and the other said he only needs a partial replacement. He's scheduled his surgery with the doctor that told him a partial. Which doctor is correct

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Profile picture for repsher @repsher

It has been 6 weeks since surgery.
My ROM is only 105. I go to PT and exercise at home. The surgeon is talking about a possible MUA.
Any suggestions.
Thanks

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@repsher

I was at 104 ROM for at least 8 weeks. Frustating! By 16 weeks it was 125. Give it some more time. I would suggest you not consider an MUA now unless your surgeon tells you that it is absolutely necessary at this point.

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Profile picture for steveinarizona @steveinarizona

@SusanEllen66
Actually, many knee surgeons are beginning to change to starting PT a couple or few weeks after the surgery while resting with ice and compression. I have an incredible surgeon who does exactly that and I came out not only with no post surgery pain but ROM in that third week of 122 and a flat extension.

By the way, current research is beginning to turn against the use of a tourniquet:
https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/tourniquets-increase-serious-complications-knee-replacement-surgery/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4105775/
My incredible surgeon did NOT use a tourniquet using tranexamic acid instead.

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@steveinarizona hi Steve in Arizona.
I’m in AZ too.
Where did you have your surgery? Sounds like everything went well, and that’s great!

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Profile picture for SusanEllen66 Susan McMichael @SusanEllen66

@steveinarizona hi Steve in Arizona.
I’m in AZ too.
Where did you have your surgery? Sounds like everything went well, and that’s great!

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@SusanEllen66
My surgeon, Jimmy Chow, operates out of the outpatient center at the Abrazzo Scottsdale Hospital campus. He is truly a magician and I believe he may be the best hip/knee replacement surgeon in the country BUT he doesn't take Medicare or insurance. One has to pay his fee directly without insurance. In my case my PPO insurance plan covered all the other costs. I had no pain from his replacement of my left hip three years ago and my right knee six months ago.

There are other excellent surgeons in the greater Phoenix area. A good starting place, if you can get in, is the Mayo Clinic. There are some surgeons who have been trained by Dr. Chow and they are probably good but they lack his experience.

I have a friend here in Scottsdale who is scheduled for a Jiffy knee replacement. I was chatting with Dr. Chow before my surgery and mentioned my friend and asked Dr. Chow what he thought of the Jiffy Knee. He replied that it depended upon the surgeon. I told him that my friend's surgeon was Timothy Kavanaugh. Dr. Chow replied that he had not seen any problems from Dr. Kavanaugh which is a compliment as Dr. Chow spends about 20% of his surgical time doing revisions of other surgeons' work. If your knee replacement is fairly straightforward, that might be a good choice with a surgeon who accepts insurance. If it is more complex, you might find it worthwhile to pay for Dr. Chow.

Jiffy Knee is a branded version of a subvastus method. The subvastus method goes under the muscle and tendon to reduce post surgery trauma. In most cases it works. Dr. Chow used a mini midvastus method which goes under the tendon but through the muscle fibers. He explained to me that a subvastus method would have a slightly less painful recovery but the mid vastus method provided him with a better field of work.

You are fortunate that you are in the greater Phoenix area as we have a number of viable choices here. My order of precedence would be Dr. Chow, then Mayo, then Dr. Kavanaugh and then the other excellent surgeons in the market.
https://www.chowhipandknee.com/

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Profile picture for steveinarizona @steveinarizona

@SusanEllen66
My surgeon, Jimmy Chow, operates out of the outpatient center at the Abrazzo Scottsdale Hospital campus. He is truly a magician and I believe he may be the best hip/knee replacement surgeon in the country BUT he doesn't take Medicare or insurance. One has to pay his fee directly without insurance. In my case my PPO insurance plan covered all the other costs. I had no pain from his replacement of my left hip three years ago and my right knee six months ago.

There are other excellent surgeons in the greater Phoenix area. A good starting place, if you can get in, is the Mayo Clinic. There are some surgeons who have been trained by Dr. Chow and they are probably good but they lack his experience.

I have a friend here in Scottsdale who is scheduled for a Jiffy knee replacement. I was chatting with Dr. Chow before my surgery and mentioned my friend and asked Dr. Chow what he thought of the Jiffy Knee. He replied that it depended upon the surgeon. I told him that my friend's surgeon was Timothy Kavanaugh. Dr. Chow replied that he had not seen any problems from Dr. Kavanaugh which is a compliment as Dr. Chow spends about 20% of his surgical time doing revisions of other surgeons' work. If your knee replacement is fairly straightforward, that might be a good choice with a surgeon who accepts insurance. If it is more complex, you might find it worthwhile to pay for Dr. Chow.

Jiffy Knee is a branded version of a subvastus method. The subvastus method goes under the muscle and tendon to reduce post surgery trauma. In most cases it works. Dr. Chow used a mini midvastus method which goes under the tendon but through the muscle fibers. He explained to me that a subvastus method would have a slightly less painful recovery but the mid vastus method provided him with a better field of work.

You are fortunate that you are in the greater Phoenix area as we have a number of viable choices here. My order of precedence would be Dr. Chow, then Mayo, then Dr. Kavanaugh and then the other excellent surgeons in the market.
https://www.chowhipandknee.com/

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@steveinarizona Thanks for your information I’ve already had both my knees done. One in 2019, the other 2020.
I’ve not had any problems at all.
My surgeon was Dr Rosen. He is with Banner.
I’m over here in Peoria. 💁🏼‍♀️

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