SFWon the go
The “New Sexy Knee” The Knee Replacement That Gets You Up and Moving Sooner By Lisa Renaldo • Photos by Julie Prairie Photography
“P
eople can’t even tell I had a knee replacement. I’m really happy about it,” says Tyke Knudson, 53, of Brookings, whose knee replacement surgery was just this past October. Tyke describes herself as a very active person. So when her knees became bone-on-bone four years ago, the tough decision to have knee replacement had to be faced. First she had her left knee done, but it took two years of healing before it felt strong, sometimes gave out on her, and felt like it wasn’t quite bending correctly. “It has always given me some trouble,” she says. When she heard about Dr. Michael Adler of Orthopedic Institute in Sioux Falls, she decided to have him do the second knee, using a specialized approach in which the subvastus muscle is not cut, as in the more common approach used by about 90 percent of orthopedic doctors in the U.S. Instead, this large muscle, which extends the knee, is moved out of the way, taking the doctor more time and effort, but providing a quicker recovery. This less invasive approach, in implementation since the late 1990s, is preferred by Dr. Adler. “It seems that the patients are a little happier with the results, and they get up and moving a little bit quicker--even as soon as their 2-3 week post-op checkup,” he says. Tyke claims that after her surgery with Dr. Adler, she noticed the new knee felt different even in the recovery room, and she went home one day earlier than with her previous surgery. Tyke and her husband nicknamed the right knee her “new sexy knee” because of its less bulky mechanical design and smooth functioning. That design, combined with keeping the subvastus muscle intact, has made a world of difference in Tyke’s life. Tyke isn’t the only happy camper on Dr. Adler’s list. Roberta Rasmussen, 72, of Viborg also confirms Dr. Adler’s estimate of a relatively brief four- to six-week period before returning comfortably to one’s daily activities. One year after
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SIOUX FALLS WOMAN • a pril/ma y 2012