Deuce Partial Knee Offers High-performance Option for Active Patients
It’s tough to enjoy the great outdoors when you’re in pain. Patricia Nygren of Crete knows that firsthand.
The avid hiker and biker lived with near constant pain in her right knee for more than a year. “The cartilage had worn out,” she explains. “It was pretty much bone on bone. Even climbing the stairs was difficult.”
When the pain finally sidelined the energetic retiree, she sought the medical opinion of Carl DiLella, D.O., board-certified orthopedic surgeon on staff at the Advanced Orthopedic Institute at Ingalls. Following an arthroscopy procedure and several rounds of medication, which provided only temporary relief, Dr. DiLella recommended a partial knee replacement specially designed for younger, more active patients like Nygren.
Called the Journey Deuce, the new implant spares healthy bone and ligaments that are sacrificed in traditional total knee replacements. Benefits include more natural feeling and stability in the knee; less post-operative pain; less physical therapy; and a shorter recovery period.
Here’s how it works: Traditional total knee surgery replaces the ends of the thigh bone (femur), shin bone (tibia) and knee cap (patella). However, in 70 percent of patients, osteoarthritis attacks only the knee cap and inner part of the knee (medial compartment). The Journey Deuce resurfaces just the diseased areas – the kneecap and medial compartments – and leaves healthy bone and important ligaments intact.
Most importantly, Journey Deuce uses an implant that preserves the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), which provide stability during activities such as walking and climbing stairs. Standard total knee replacements sacrifice these ligaments, but do not fully compensate for their function.
“The Deuce is a powerful, new treatment option that can be life-changing for a large percentage of knee surgery candidates,” Dr. DiLella explains. “Patients want natural, normal motion of the knee, small scars and shorter physical rehabilitation. And of course, they want as little post-operative pain as possible.
I believe the Deuce is the right implant at the right time for active and informed patients.”
Nygren agrees. Just a week after her October surgery, she traded in her walker for a cane. Following several weeks of physical therapy and strengthening, Nygren hopes to resume biking and hiking the national parks again this summer with her husband.


