Cartilage Repair
Emory Sports Medicine offers several effective techniques for repairing damaged cartilage, including:
Arthroscopic Lavage and Debridement
A treatment for less serious cartilage damage, arthroscopic lavage removes small areas of damaged cartilage in order to reduce pain and restore range of motion.
Microfracture Surgery
In microfracture surgery, small holes are drilled through damaged cartilage and into the underlying bone, creating blood clots. As the blood clots heal, new fibrocartilage forms.
Autograft Plugs and Autologous Osteochondral Grafts
In this procedure, plugs of healthy bone and cartilage are removed from low-stress areas of the joint and used to replaced damaged cartilage in high stress areas.
Cartilage Repair via Cartilage Transplant
Emory is currently studying the effects of a new treatment for damaged cartilage, cartilage transplant. Cartilage transplantation repairs damaged cartilage with replacement juvenile cartilage. Cartilage replacement is conducted by using a mix of donated cartilage and fibren glue (a common medium for biological repairs) formed into a patch of the appropriate size and shape, which is then inserted into the damaged area. The mixture knits with the surrounding cartilage, stays in place, and forms new, healthy cartilage.
For More Information
At Emory Sports Medicine, this procedure is performed by:
