Minimally Invasive Total Knee Arthroplasty With a Subvastus Approach

Minimally invasive knee-replacement surgery should not be just using a smaller skin incision. The goal of minimally invasive surgery is to maximize the potential for accelerated rehabilitation, which can be achieved by not violating the quadriceps. Using specially designed smaller instrumentation allows performance of the Zimmer Natural Knee total knee replacement (Warsaw, IN) from a familiar frontal orientation through a short incision and with a muscle-sparing subvastus approach. Comparison of results to a standard surgical approach demonstrates less pain and faster rehabilitation without an increase in surgical time or complications.