Aim: To analyze early clinical outcome and patients satisfaction following Oxford phase 3 Unicompartmental Knee arthroplasty at a mean follow up of 30 months from a single centre in the Trent arthroplasty register.

Methods: Between 1999 and 2002, 180 Oxford phase 3-unicompartmental knees were implanted in 173 patients. Average age at operation was 66 years. All patients were assessed pre and post-operatively using Oxford Knee questionnaire. At a mean follow up of 30 months (range 12–48 months); ninety knees in 83 patients were assessed using Oxford and EuroQol health questionnaire. Subjective patient’s satisfaction was also assessed.

Results: Seven knees out of 180 were revised early in the series giving a failure rate of 4%. Three patients had died due to unrelated causes. 90 knees were assessed at recent follow-up. The mean Oxford knee score improved from 48 preoperatively to 28 post-operatively. Subjectively 76% of the patients felt that the operation was successful and 74% were able to resume their leisure activities with out any pain.

Conclusion: This study shows that the short-term results following minimally invasive Oxford phase 3-unicompartmental knee implantation technique can yield satisfactory clinical and functional results. Using stringent selection criteria, Oxford phase 3-unicompartmental knee offers a good alternative to total knee arthroplasty.