My Opinion Counts

I just read an article in US News & World Report and was shocked to find that they use the same artificial joints for women's knees as they do for men's knees. A woman's kneecap is thinner and women's wider hips create a different angle between the pelvis and knee. That means that the kneecap gets pulled to the side when the quadriceps contract. Another big difference is the fact that the end of the thighbone is typically narrower in men.

With all the differences, would you think that it would have dawned on someone that the reason men's knee replacements were more successful based on reports of pain and do-over rates, would be based on these differences?

Some surgeons say the difference is in the technique of the surgeon who puts in the artificial joint. I would bet dollars to donuts that those surgeons are men.