My mother-in-law, age 72, has been advised that she will require a knee
joint prosthesis, full or partial, due to arthritic deterioration.  She is
in excellent condition, otherwise, and swims 1 to 2Km/day. We are, of
course, concerned about her future mobility, and more improtantly about
maximizing her chances of a sucessful outcome and not jeopardizing her
continued swimming.

She has been advised to make a choice between "partial" or "full" joint
replacement.  I am wondering what the pros and cons are of each approach
and whether or not either approach might have distinct
advantages/disadvantages in terms of longevity and activities such as

swimming.  I would suppose that in the case of partial replacement a
question might be the rate of deterioration of what is not replaced.  I
am also wondering if arthritic deterioration follows a pretty standard
pattern in terms of sequence.
Any thoughts, info., or literature references would be helpful. I hope
this is an appropriate group for such a question.  If not please feel to
re-direct me.  This is my first active participation on the "net".

Thanks,

Michael Jansson