How To Repair Cartilage In Knee
Concluding updated on xvi October 2020
Dr Tan Chyn Hong, orthopaedic surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, explains the treatments available to repair or regenerate damaged cartilage.
Cartilage is essentially a white shiny textile that helps cushion and cover the area where the bones meet the joints. It serves as a lubricating surface besides every bit a shock cushion. Cartilage harm can be seen as a hole or crater on the otherwise shine surface of the joint. If left untreated, the joint can become potent, swollen and painful. It may fifty-fifty progress to a phase that requires a full joint replacement with metal and plastic components.
Cartilage regeneration is a process that attempts to restore damaged cartilage by harnessing the body's cells to regrow or replace lost cartilage.
Almost of these treatments can be done by arthroscopy (more normally known as keyhole surgery), providing benefits of less hurting, less bleeding, and faster recovery. Nonetheless, some injuries will even so crave a traditional open incision technique where a bigger cut is made to expose the cartilage damage.
While it may not be an piece of cake problem to treat, here are 6 treatments bachelor to repair or regenerate damaged cartilage.
Talk to a specialist to learn more than nigh your knee or joint pain and learn which treatments may be suitable for you.
Arthroscopic debridement
For the less severely damaged cartilage, all that is needed is a 'clean up' procedure. During this procedure, a video camera is inserted through a small incision and saline is introduced to wash out the joint. Washout expels whatever loose debris. Debridement involves removing the damaged cartilage, and this is oftentimes performed concurrently with the washout.
Microfracture
Microfracture is a surgical process to treat areas of damaged cartilage. It is done to stimulate the growth of new cartilage in patients with a small area of damaged cartilage. The procedure is oft performed within the genu, but may also be used to treat other joints such every bit, the hip, ankle, and shoulder.
For injuries smaller than 2cm2, microfracture is the recommended process. It involves puncturing pocket-sized holes in the difficult interface betwixt the cartilage and the underlying bone to create channels for the bone marrow cells to surface and fill the crater. The pocket-size holes course a blood jell rich in stem cells and eventually remodels into fibrocartilage. Fibrocartilage is a tough, dense and elastic material that helps fill in the torn part of the cartilage, hence repairing the lesion.
Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI)
ACI is most ofttimes recommended for younger patients who take single defects larger than 2cmii. This is a 2-step procedure that takes several weeks to consummate. The first procedure involves extracting healthy cartilage cells from a non-weight begetting area of the knee through minimally invasive surgery. The cells are then cloned and grown in the laboratory for 6 – viii weeks. Thereafter, a surgical procedure is done to implant the newly grown cells into the damaged area.
Articular cartilage repair: Matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI)
This is a two-step procedure that repairs the articular cartilage damage by using the patient'due south ain cultured cartilage cells. The first footstep is similar to that in ACI where healthy cartilage cells are extracted from a non-weight bearing area of the genu. The cells are then cultivated on a membrane. Several weeks later, the membrane is placed into the defect. This helps the cartilage regenerate.
Articular cartilage is the shine, white tissue that covers the ends of bones where they come up together to form joints. The presence of cartilage in the joints helps in move and allows basic to glide over each other with little friction. Daily wear and tear or an injury may event in harm to the articular cartilage.
Osteochondral autograft transplantation
In this i-step process, the surgeon harvests a 'plug' of salubrious tissue and bone from an unaffected, non-weight bearing area of the patient's own joint. The new graft is transferred to replace the damage surface area. When multiple 'plugs' are used, the result is like a mosaic blueprint, hence the term mosaicplasty.
Stem cell therapy
Stem cells, or more accurately mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) take been used in a research setting to repair and regenerate cartilage damage. MSCs are plant in multiple human developed tissues including bone marrow and adipose tissues. They have the ability to differentiate into bone, cartilage, muscle, and adipose tissue. Human clinical trials take been published showing promising results just long term studies are needed earlier information technology can be utilised routinely in the normal clinical setting.
Post-operative care
Afterwards the cartilage repair procedure, there is normally a period (six – 8 weeks) during which the patient is required to use crutches. This is to reduce pressure on the healing cartilage. The fourth dimension taken for consummate recovery could be up to 3 – 6 months.
Consult a specialist almost your knee or joint hurting and the treatments available.
Article contributed past Dr Tan Chyn Hong, orthopaedic surgeon at Mountain Elizabeth Novena Infirmary
References
Articular Cartilage Restoration (n.d) Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/articular-cartilage-restoration
Microfracture Surgery for Cartilage Impairment (2020, Jan 30) Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/microfracture-2549485
Source: https://www.mountelizabeth.com.sg/healthplus/article/6-treatments-for-cartilage-damage#:~:text=The%20first%20procedure%20involves%20extracting,cells%20into%20the%20damaged%20area.
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