Treatments for Knee Cartilage Injuries

Cartilage damage of the knee is a common athletic injury. Surgeons from Southern California Orthopedic Institute see these injuries among athletes of all ages and at all levels of competition. Fortunately, athletes have many treatment options.

In the past 20 years, surgeons have made advancements in repairing and restoring knee cartilage. Your orthopedic surgeon will discuss with you the best treatment option based on tests and his or her diagnosis. Options for cartilage repair include:

• Shaving away the damaged cartilage is one of the most common treatments for cartilage defects that have not worn to the bone. Using an arthroscope inserted into the knee through a small incision, a surgeon shaves and smoothes shredded or frayed cartilage.
• Microfracture surgery is designed for larger and more severe cartilage damage. Through arthroscopic surgery, surgeons scrape the damaged area and create bleeding of the bone. Tiny fractures are then created, allowing blood vessels and bone marrow cells to come in contact with the injury. Bone marrow fills the defect, which eventually matures into scar cartilage.
• Autologous chondrocyte implantation entails removing cartilage cells from the injured knee and growing them outside the body in a lab. After about four weeks, the cells are implanted into the defect. Over time the cells grow and fill the defect with a new cartilage surface.
• Osteochondral autograft transfer involves a surgeon taking a plug of the patient’s cartilage from a part of the knee that does not bear weight during walking, and transplanting it into the injured part of the knee.
• Osteochondral allograft transplantation uses a plug of cartilage from a cadaver and implants it into the damaged area.

Southern California Orthopedic Institute has orthopedic surgeons skilled in the knee cartilage treatment options listed above. For an assessment of your injury and an opinion on the best option for you, contact Southern California Orthopedic Institute’s Bakersfield office at (661) 328-5565.

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