• CARTILAGE TREATMENT
  Joint cartilage does not normally regenerate in the body once damaged. In addition to causing pain and restricted mobility, chronic cartilage injuries may lead to further deterioration of the joint surface. Such damage can severely hinder a patient's normal activities and occupation.

Arthroscopic Surgery

Some patients undergo arthroscopic surgery to smooth the surface of the damaged cartilage area. Other surgical procedures, such as micro fracture, drilling and abrasion, may provide symptomatic relief, but the benefit is often temporary, especially when the patient's pre injury activity level is maintained. We perform these to allow bone marrow cells to infiltrate the defect, resulting in the formation of fibrous cartilage tissue, which is less durable and resilient than normal articular cartilage.

More severe and chronic forms of cartilage damage can lead to greater deterioration of the joint cartilage and may eventually lead to some of the 200,000 total knee replacements performed each year. The artificial joint generally lasts for 10 to 15 years and is not recommended for patients under 50.

A New Solution

Carticel® uses a commercial process to culture a patient's own cartilage cells, known as chondrocytes, for use in the repair of symptomatic cartilage defects. These are caused by acute or repetitive trauma in patients who have had an inadequate response to a prior arthroscopic or other surgical repair procedure. Patients with this type of cartilage damage also display symptoms that include locking, catching, localized pain and swelling. Any instability of the knee or malalignment of the joint should be corrected before or concurrent with Carticel implantation.

The procedure starts when we obtain a biopsy of healthy knee cartilage, about the size of a raisin, from the patient during an arthroscopic procedure. Technicians at a specialized lab use proprietary methods to grow millions of new cells for that patient. The cells are then delivered in a vial to the surgeon, who implants them into the defect in a surgical repair procedure.

Most patients are back to full weight-bearing within six to eight weeks and resume physical activity within one year.

Today Carticel is considered a viable treatment option, and most health-care plans now reimburse fully for appropriate patients.