After a lifetime of wear and tear on their knees, more Americans than ever are thinking about knee replacement. But many dread the recovery time.

MORE ON THIS STORY More On Quad Sparing Technique

Now, for the first time locally, they have a new choice.

Karen Seims, 62, recalls years of skiing that led to severe arthritis in a knee. When treatments didn't help, she opted for knee replacement surgery.

"I just thought I want to get my life to back to, you know, where I can do things without thinking about hurting my knee," she said.

Now just two weeks after surgery Karen is making a remarkably quick recovery.

Her doctor, Seth Leopold, is the first in our region to perform a minimally invasive procedure called quadricep sparing knee replacement.

In the new procedure, the same time-tested knee replacement joint is implanted, but this time with instruments that can be inserted through an incision about half the length. And the crucial quadricep thigh muscle goes untouched.

"The early recovery period seems better to me. [It] seems faster to me, and I find that to be promising and exciting," Dr. Leopold said.

With traditional knee replacement Karen Seims could have expected to spend up to a month on a walker. But two weeks after surgery, she's stopped taking medication for the pain, and she says she's ready to get back to living.

"I feel that I'll be able to do everything that I've done before. It's amazing."

Knee replacement is not without risk, and the new procedure doesn't change that. But those risks are rare.

Patients need to do physical therapy after knee replacement to regain flexibility. The number of weeks a person spends in physical therapy varies. But patients who undergo the new procedure are finding they go through rehabilitation more quickly, too.