5-822.g1:

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 had both sides of your knee joint replaced by synthetic material. So both the inner and outer parts of your knee joint were replaced. This is also known as a total prosthesis or endoprosthesis.

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

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