Cartilage Injuries

Cartilage Injuries

Cartilage injuries, mostly occur in the joints that are usually exposed to trauma, with the non-healing tears on the cartilage surface or fracture with bone underneath in young people. In middle aged and older patients, it may occur due to aging and overuse. In every age group, cartilage injuries may develop due to the effect of drugs and toxic substances. It usually becomes with swelling, recurrent stiffness and pain in the knee. In such injuries, patient's age, patient's expectation of life quality, width and depth of the injured area are the most important factors for selecting the appropriate surgery type.

Microfracture: It is an arthroscopically performed method of cleaning damaged cartilage area and vitalization of the healthy bone tissue in the base by puncturing.

Mosaicplasty: The damaged area is removed and replaced by healthy cartilage and bone tissue from a non-load-bearing area. The majority of the method can be performed arthroscopically according to the size of the damaged cartilage area in the side. If cartilage damage is effective in a large area, it may require open surgery. Mosaicplasty can sometimes be used for the detection of large osteochondritis dissecans areas also.

Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation: It is used in young patients with high sized damaged area. The treatment is performed in two stages. In the first stage, the surgical procedure is completed by harvesting a cartilage tissue sample from the patient and the patient is sent to the home. The cells in this cartilage tissue sample are extended in the laboratory until a sufficient amount is achieved to repair the damaged area. When an adequate amount of tissue is obtained, the patient is operated again and the expanded cartilage is implanted in the patient and expected for healing.