What is the Gender Knee?
The Gender Knee is a new technology in knee replacement implants. It is designed to compensate for the differences between men's and women's knees. Pioneered by Zimmer, this type of knee replacement implant allows for improved fit for female knees.
Nearly two-thirds of 400,000 yearly knee replacement patients are women, with numbers increasing each year. The Zimmer Gender Knee replacement implant is the only knee implant specifically designed and shaped for a woman's knee. Other knee implants are designed on an average between men's and women's knees.
A Gender Knee replacement can usually be implanted using less-invasive surgical procedures, leaving smaller scars, less hospital stay and a quicker recovery. The design and characteristics of the Gender Knee implant feature three major differences than a regular knee replacement implant:
- A thinner profile. Typically, the bone in the front part of the knee is less prominent on a woman's knee than on a man's. Other implants have a thickness on the front that may feel bulky, cause pain and even reduce motion. The Zimmer Gender Knee's thin profile matches a woman's knee more accurately.
- Natural movement. The difference in shape between a woman and a man often results in a different angle between the hip bone and the knee. This angle has a direct affect on how the kneecap moves over the thighbone when the is in motion. The Gender Knee takes into account this difference in angle and creates a more natural knee movement for women.
- Contoured shape. To prevent the implant from hanging over the bone, the Gender Knee has been contoured to more accurately match the narrower female knee. Other knee implants can be to large, or ill-fitting and this can cause pain and damage by pressing on ligaments and tendons near the knee.
To learn more about the Zimmer Gender Knee replacement implant, visit Zimmer.com.
