|
|
||||
 | ||||
|
|
Cartilage transplants offer hope for traumatic knee injuriesOver the past several years, knee cartilage transplants have become a successful method for repairing knee joints damaged by injuries sustained through sporting or accidents. Damage to cartilage is permanent and can lead to arthritis or even a total joint replacement. Now, thanks to continuing advances in orthopedic medicine, cartilage transplants are more common and more available. William Pennington, MD, an orthopedic surgeon on staff at Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center and Aurora Medical Center in Hartford, is pleased to offer this treatment to his patients. "With cartilage transplants, the goal is to help each patient avoid the arthritis that can set in due to long-term knee damage. By replacing the injured cartilage, we can help each patient regain an active lifestyle within a few weeks, avoid future pain and, hopefully, prevent a total joint replacement. Often, we can also avoid placing hardware in the knee that may need to be replaced later on," says Dr. Pennington. According to Dr. Pennington, two types of cartilage in the knee can be replaced—meniscus cartilage, the shock absorber found between the joint bones, and articular cartilage, the layer of cartilage found along the ends of the bones. Without performing a transplant, injuries to these cartilage pieces may, over time, lead to full-blown arthritis. Orthopedic surgeon Ted Gertel, MD, who serves as the medical director for Aurora's Sports Medicine Institute and is on staff at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, states that he has found success performing transplants on patients whose other treatments have failed. "My goal is to alleviate as much pain as quickly as possible for my patients. Sometimes, conservative treatments—such as medication, physical therapy and arthroscopic surgery—fail and a patient is still experiencing significant pain, locking or swelling of the knee. I then evaluate if that person is a good candidate for a transplant." Three types of transplants are most often performed. For small injuries, a procedure called osteo-articular transfer (OATS) is performed by removing cartilage from another part of the knee and "plugging" it into the damaged area. For larger injuries, two options are available. An osteochondral allograft involves matching cartilage from a cadaver to fill in the damaged area on the patient. An autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) may also be performed, in which cartilage cells are harvested from the patient's knee, then taken to a laboratory and grown into new cartilage to repair the damage. Mark Wichman, MD, an orthopedic surgeon on staff at Aurora Sinai Medical Center and Aurora West Allis Medical Center, says the key to a successful transplant is finding the appropriate patient. "Cartilage transplants are not appropriate for people who have generalized arthritis. Typically, the best candidates are young, healthy people—with healthy tissue and a stable joint—who have sustained a traumatic injury that is an isolated problem," he explains. |
||
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
