A significant number of patients are affected by localised articular damage that is neither appropriate for traditional arthroplasty, nor for biological repair. A focal resurfacing system utilizing a matched contoured articular prosthetic (HemiCAP^®) has been introduced for the treatment of such cases. Independent results on these implants are limited.

We retrospectively evaluated the use of this resurfacing system in 14 patients (13 male, one female), mean age 40.3 years (range 28–49) with focal femoral condyle defects. All procedures were performed by the same consultant orthopaedic surgeon. Clinical evaluation consisted of the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) assessment. Radiographic evaluation was conducted independently to look for signs of any migration of the prosthesis or any radiolucency around it.

10 patients were treated on the medial femoral condyle, two on the lateral, and two received bicondylar implants. Average follow-up was 20 months (range 6–42). All but two patients (no improvement) described a good to excellent response of their symptoms. The KOOS score at follow-up was 79.6, compared to 61.2 prior to treatment (p=0.03). No signs of device migration or radiolucency around the device were observed. None of the patients required re-operation, and there were no cases of superficial/deep infection, thromboembolic events or other significant complication.

Our short-term results demonstrate that the use of the joint preserving HemiCAP^® system provides good pain relief and functional improvement in such patients.