Basic Science, Design, and Materials

The knee is the major joint most commonly affected by osteoarthritis. Before the advent of knee replacement, conservative measures such as debridement, osteotomy and arthrodesis represented the basics of surgical management. Therefore, end-stage knee arthritis often led to a significant proportion of disabled patients. This was radically changed with the development of knee arthroplasty, which paralleled that of total hip arthroplasty in the 1970s.