01
Charles DeCook, MD
Total Joint Specialists
Cumming, GA
2000 Howard Farm Drive, Suite 200 · 30041
Your Knee is1 of 1.
Anatomic Resurfacing starts with a simple idea: every person's knee has unique anatomy that must be restored.
A natural range
Healthy knees come in
different alignments.
Some legs naturally bow outward. Others are straighter or angle inward.
Femoral head to ankle center. See where the knee sits relative to the straight line.
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Your unique femur shape.
Your thighbone ends in two rounded surfaces—the medial and lateral condyles. Their size, proportions, and curves vary from person to person.
Your femur also contributes to the angle of your joint.
02
Your unique tibia shape.
The inner and outer sides of your tibia have different shapes and slopes. Its front-view tilt varies too. Together, they make your tibia uniquely yours.
Based on an MRI study of 55 knees. The three slopes are not strongly correlated. Animated combinations are illustrative, not measured patients or surgical targets. Read the geometry study ↗
03
Your joint line. Uniquely yours.
The angle of your knee joint varies from person to person. This joint line is formed by the unique shape of your femur and tibia which form the joint line. This can vary from an angle that is neutral to a significant angle depending on the individual.
Different knees, not stages of arthritis. Joint-line tilt and overall leg alignment are different measurements; both bones matter.
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Your natural alignment.
Knee alignment and joint-line tilt vary from person to person.
Loading knee anatomy…
Joint lineKnee alignment
Neutral knee alignment and Neutral joint line.
Illustrative anatomy. Based on CPAK ↗
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Your Natural Motion
Your knee bends, glides and rotates. During bending, the outer side usually moves farther backward than the inner side. The pattern changes with the activity and differs between knees.
One knee. Three views.
Watch the inner and outer sides as the same knee bends.
Preparing the knee…
0°
Illustrative 0–120° motion based on the phased pattern described by Iwaki et al. (2000). Individual knees and activities vary. Explore the evidence ↗
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What is Resurfacing?
Cartilage covers the ends of the femur and tibia. Arthritis can wear it away, leaving bone exposed. Resurfacing prepares the bone and covers the worn surfaces with implants.
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Three routes to the joint
Surgical approaches.
The main difference is the route through or around the muscle and tendon above the kneecap. Medial parapatellar opens the tendon, midvastus splits a short segment of muscle, and subvastus passes underneath it.
Subvastus and midvastus can make the first one to two weeks modestly easier. Neither has a consistent longer-term advantage.
What do the studies show?
Early recovery. Compared with medial parapatellar, a subvastus review found a straight-leg raise about 1–2 days sooner, pain about 1 point lower out of 10 on day one, and 7° more bend in week one. A midvastus review found about 9° more bend in week one. These are study averages, not a promise for an individual patient. [1, 2]
Later recovery. Early differences generally diminish by six weeks. Reviews have not shown a consistent advantage in later function, motion, complications, or reoperation rates, including outcomes assessed at one year. This does not prove that every outcome is identical. [1, 3, 4]
The trade-off. These approaches can take longer—about 10 extra minutes for subvastus in one review—and may make exposure harder in stiff knees, larger patients, or knees with previous surgery. Adequate visualization is essential for accurate implant positioning; a smaller approach should never compromise the surgeon’s view. [1, 5]
Choose the approach that gives your surgeon reliable exposure for your knee. Experience and accurate reconstruction matter more than the name of the approach.
Explore the knee approaches reference library · 802 articles →Evidence from total knee replacement studies.
Loading anatomy…
Anterior · deep exposureGold: medial parapatellar arthrotomy
The deep incision extends through the medial quadriceps tendon and alongside the medial patellar border. A tendon edge is retained for repair; the extent varies with exposure.
Vastus lateralis is on the outer side; vastus medialis and its distal VMO fibers are on the inner side. The ivory quadriceps tendon lies centrally above the patella. The faint gold guide stays visible while the brighter line traces the selected incision.
Illustrative animation · not a patient-specific model or a measurement of ligament force. Anatomy and operative decisions require clinical verification.
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A better conversation
Common questions.
How is this different from a knee replacement?
True Knee Resurfacing is a knee replacement approach built around Joint Line Resurfacing. “Resurfacing” describes the goal of replacing damaged joint surfaces while using the patient’s anatomy to guide component position. Traditional knee replacement techniques have often placed implants according to standardized alignment targets, which can alter how an individual knee functions.
Do you have to cut bone?
Yes. To restore your native anatomy, the implants must be precisely placed where the cartilage was. That requires preparing the bone and fixing synthetic components to it.
How does this technique compare to other alignment philosophies?
True Knee Resurfacing shares many principles and techniques with kinematic alignment.
Is this similar to a Jiffy Knee?
Jiffy Knee refers to an approach for entering the knee joint beneath a muscle. True Knee Resurfacing describes how the joint surfaces are restored and can be performed through a range of surgical approaches.
Go deeper
See what your surgeon sees.
Explore the surgical viewYour next step
Find a surgeon.
Start a conversation about your knee.
UNITED STATESChoose a state or a marker
Surgeon locationsApproximate locations · Alaska & Hawaii shown as insets
6 surgeons to get to know
02
David Crawford, MD
JIS Orthopedics
New Albany, OH
7277 Smith’s Mill Road, Suite 200 · 43054
1 more location
St. Clairsville, OH 43950
45280 National Road W
03
Michael Hellman, MD
Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists
Lee’s Summit, MO
120 NE Saint Luke’s Boulevard, Suite 200 · 64086
1 more location
Blue Springs, MO 64014
600 NE Adams Dairy Parkway
04
Marcus Ford, MD
Texas Hip & Knee Center
Fort Worth, TX
6301 Harris Parkway, Suite 300 · 76132
1 more location
Fort Worth, TX 76244
10900 Founders Way, Suite 201
05
Bob Sershon, MD
Anderson Orthopaedic Clinic
Annandale, VA
3299 Woodburn Road, Suite 480 · 22003
3 more locations
Alexandria, VA 22306
2501 Parkers Lane, Suite 200
Reston, VA 20190
1886 Metro Center Drive, Suite 300
Oxon Hill, MD 20745
251 National Harbor Boulevard, Suite 303
06
Nick Brown, MD
Loyola Medicine
Maywood, IL
2160 S First Avenue · 60153
2 more locations
Melrose Park, IL 60160
675 W North Avenue
Burr Ridge, IL 60527
6800 N Frontage Road
Distances are approximate, straight-line estimates from ZIP or city locations. Confirm the office and available procedures with the practice. Location data: GeoNames.