Minimally invasive unicondylar knee arthroplasty for the treatment of unicompartmental osteoarthritis: an outpatient arthritic bypass procedure.

This review summarizes past studies examining the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee that have led to the conclusion that the disease is slow, progressive, and typically limited to one tibiofemoral compartment. Treatments such as unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA) that address the single diseased compartment, preserving bone and soft tissue, seem appropriate. The senior author's minimally invasive surgical technique for performing UKA also is described.