Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Sacred Heart Is First to Offer Knee Replacements Designed for Women
 PENSACOLA, Fla. – Sacred Heart Hospital is the first healthcare facility in the region to offer the first knee replacement implant designed specifically for a woman’s anatomy.
Dr. Joseph Dennie, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and chair of the orthopedics department at Sacred Heart, performed the first gender-specific knee replacement procedure on Aug. 7 on a 66-year-old woman at Sacred Heart’s Total Joint Replacement Center.
“This new joint implant is based on extensive biomedical research that shows that there is a substantial difference between male and female joints,” said Dennie. “Over 60 percent of total knee replacement candidates are female and this new knee is designed specifically with a woman’s anatomy in mind.”
By taking into account the natural curvature of the female knee and how it moves, the Zimmer Gender Solutions™ High-Flex Knee is able to more closely mimic the movements of a female knee compared with traditional knee implants. The special shape will provide more motion better and better knee replacement outcomes for women.
Unlike other knee implants marketed for women, the Zimmer Gender Solutions™ High-Flex Knee is designed for a woman’s anatomy, rather than taking a male implant and making the size smaller.
Traditional knee implants are based on the average size of women’s and men’s knees by measuring the end of the thighbone. Because of the difference in the way men and women’s knees work, orthopedics surgeons frequently make adjustments during surgery to make traditional implants fit a woman’s anatomy.
Compared to their male counterparts, women’s knees are narrower overall and thinner to the front. Women’s pelvises are also wider, which causes their kneecaps to move at a different angle. An implant that is too wide can cause the implant to hang over the bone and potentially press on or damage surrounding ligaments and tendons, which could cause pain. Traditional implants can also feel bulky in women and may cause a woman’s knee to feel abnormal as it moves.
The new implant was designed by calculating the average size of over 800 female knees. It is narrower from side to side, is thinner in the front to prevent bulkiness, and the front grove has been redesigned to provide optimal tracking.
No special instruments are needed to install the gender-specific knee implants, and they can be inserted using a minimally invasive procedure. The implant can be used for most female patients and some male patients with small bone structures.
For more information, call Sacred Heart at (850) 416-7000.
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