Knee replacement

30 Simulated Years of Wear Performance

The brightest minds at orthopedic medical technology company Smith & Nephew have worked for years to minimize concerns about a leading cause of knee replacement failure—implant wear. While scientific literature indicates knee replacements should be expected to last 10 to 15 years before wear becomes an issue, Smith & Nephew has always thought they could do better for physically active patients.

So they invented VERILAST◊Knee Technology— a combination of remarkable materials that were tested to simulate 30 years of wear performance. That’s more than twice the length of testing of knee replacements made from traditional materials, cobalt chrome metal and high density plastic.

So while they cannot say they've eliminated a leading cause of implant failure, Smith & Nephew believes their 20 years of dedicated research are paying off for patients who would like to redicover their active life after surgery.

About Knee Replacement Surgery

There are potential risks with knee replacement surgery such as loosening, fracture, dislocation, wear and infection that may result in the need for additional surgery. Do not perform high impact activities such as running and jumping unless your surgeon tells you the bone has healed and these activities are acceptable. Early device failure, breakage or loosening may occur if you do not follow your surgeon’s limitations on activity level. Early failure can happen if you do not guard your knee joint from overloading due to activity level, failure to control body weight or accidents such as falls. Knee replacement surgery is intended to relieve knee pain and improve knee functions. Talk to your doctor to determine what treatment may be best for you. Additional information is available at www.RediscoverYourGo.com

Remember, VERILAST◊ Knee Technology is exclusive to medical device maker Smith & Nephew—and not every surgeon has been trained to use Smith & Nephew knee implants. I have received that training and look forward to discussing the VERILAST◊ Technology option with you.

Technology

VERILAST◊Knee Technology builds on the decade of success of an advanced implant material called OXINIUM◊ (Oxidized Zirconium), joining this lightweight, low-friction metal with a special kind of “highly cross-linked” plastic that is also resistant to common implant wear. When these two surfaces work together in the joint, they do amazing and unprecedented
things:

-In rigorous lab testing, Smith & Nephew’s LEGION◊ CR knee replacements made from exclusive VERILAST◊ Technology were subjected to 45 million simulated “steps.” That’s equal to around 30 years of physical activity under typical conditions.

-The testing showed that after 5 million steps, LEGION◊ CR knees made with VERILAST◊ Knee Technology reduced 98% of the wear experienced by knees made with traditional implant materials. And when the knees made with VERILAST◊ Technology kept “walking” out to 45 million cycles, it reduce 82% of the wear experienced by the traditional material knee implant that was stopped after the first 5 million cycles.

About VERILAST Knee Technology

Based on laboratory wear simulation testing, the LEGION◊ Primary Knee System with VERILAST◊ Knee Technology is expected to provide wear performance sufficient for 30 years of actual use under typical conditions.

The results of laboratory wear simulation testing have not been proven to predict actual joint durability and performance in people. A reduction in wear alone may not result in improved joint durability and performance because other factors, such as bone structure, can affect joint durability and performance and cause medical conditions that may result in the need for additional surgery. These other factors were not studied as part of the testing. So while they cannot say they’ve eliminated a leading cause of implant failure, Smith & Nephew believes their 20 years of dedicated research are paying off for patients who would like to rediscover their active life after surgery.