A retrospective study published in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery Reviews found patients preferred a patient-specific implant over competing ones.
Three things to know:
1. The study focused on 47 patients from one center who had total knee replacements in both knees — one with an off-the-shelf implant and one with a personalized implant.
2. Seventy-two percent of the patients in the study preferred the personalized knee implant from Conformis, according to a Feb. 28 news release from the devicemaker. Twenty-one percent didn't notice a difference between the two implants, and 6.4 percent preferred the traditional implant.
3. The custom knee implant was linked to less pain, better perceived mobility and a more "normal" feeling in the knee. Follow-up data was self-reported using knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score, joint replacement and the forgotten joint score.