Knee Resurfacing (UKR) | Partial Knee Replacement If you are considering Knee Surgery, the following Partial Knee Replacement information may help you understand your alternatives. Knee pain from arthritis can be particularly debilitating because we use our knees in almost all of our daily activities. If you are experiencing severe knee pain that interferes with your normal functioning, your doctor may recommend a partial knee replacement, also known as unicompartmental knee replacement. This procedure is much less invasive than total knee replacement and may give relief to people suffering from arthritis of the knee or a knee injury. Partial knee replacement surgery replaces only the damaged area of your knee joint, may require only one day of hospitalization, and results in dramatically less recovery time when compared with total knee replacement surgery. The knee has three compartments: the medial compartment, the lateral compartment, and the patello-femoral compartment. The unicompartmental implant is designed to replace either the medial or lateral compartment.