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You have been given an artificial knee joint.

The knee joint connects the thigh to the lower leg. The knee joint is made up of 3 bones. These bones are the thighbone (femur), the shinbone (tibia) and the kneecap. The kneecap sits in a groove at the front of the thighbone.

There are two bony extensions at the bottom of the femur. When the knee moves, these two bony extensions slide over two recesses in the top of the tibia. One extension and one recess are on the inside of the knee, facing the other leg. The other extension and its recess are on the outside of the knee.

You have only had one side of your knee joint replaced by synthetic material. So either the inner or outer part of your knee joint was replaced. This is also known as a partial prosthesis.

An artificial knee joint usually consists of various parts. A sort of cap is placed on the bottom of the femur to replace one of the bony extensions. The recess in the tibia is replaced by a plate. There is also a plastic sliding surface between the cap and the plate.

Bone cement was partly used to fix the synthetic material to your bone. Bone cement is a special material that acts like a glue.