[Treatment of unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee]

Osteoarthritis of the knee is one of the most important degenerative joint diseases in the clinical routine. The treatment of knee osteoarthritis is not only based on the stage, symptoms and duration of the joint disease, but also depends on the existing arthrosis pattern. In the case of unicompartmental arthrosis, damage typical for osteoarthritis is limited to just one joint compartment. Both the conservative and the surgical treatment of unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee have to respect the individual characteristics of the respective forms of osteoarthritis. In the context of this manuscript, the genesis, the diagnostics and the guideline-based stage-adapted conservative and operative treatment of unicompartmental osteoarthritis of the knee are addressed.