As the first surgeon in the UK to implant a Conformis custom-made knee, consultant knee surgeon, Mr Ian McDermott is generally regarded amongst many other surgeons and colleagues as taking the clinical lead in custom knee surgery. Ian McDermott is evidently driven by his passion for providing the best possible knee replacement for anyone who needs knee replacement surgery. He advises patients to, "Make sure that the timing of any surgery is appropriate and that you’re offered the best specific option for you, personally, as an individual, with the best prosthesis".
Custom-made knees makes big differences
In his article, The benefits of 'customised' knee replacement surgery, Mr McDermott explains how custom-made knees can make big differences in surgical outcomes and patient satisfaction. "With a custom-made knee, we perform a high-res (fine-cut) CT scan of the knee, including views of the hip and the ankle". This scan is then used to design and manufacture a custom-made knee replacement prosthesis specifically for you.
Clinical lead for custom-made knee replacement
Mr McDermott was the first surgeon in the UK to implant a Conformis custom-made knee, and he has been using them ever since. He has now implanted several hundred custom-made knees, and now virtually every knee replacement he does is custom-made. He says, "I feel that they’re the best possible option for my patients. The Conformis iTotal prosthesis has now got its ODEP 7A rating, which is an industry gold-standard, and the iTotal prosthesis is showing to be the best rated prosthesis on the Beyond Compliance register, in terms of having the lowest early revision rates".
A knee replacement to fit you perfectly
Mr McDermott goes onto explain; "Just like a suit – if you want to buy a suit and walk out of the shop actually wearing it straight away, then you’re going to have to buy an off-the-peg suit. However, if you want a suit that’s made to measure, that will fit you perfectly and that will feel really good… then it’s going to need to be tailor-made".
Clearly the planning takes a little more time. "It normally takes about 6 weeks to design, manufacture and deliver the patient’s custom-made prosthesis ready for surgical implantation".
Mr McDermott advises any patient considering knee replacement surgery and wondering which option is going to work best to take the custom-made knee replacement option very seriously as it can have a major impact on outcome and satisfaction.
