Knee - Cartilage Injuries

Surgical Options

As the ability of the cartilage to heal by itself is limited, your surgeon may recommend that you undergo resurfacing procedures. Some of the surgical options include:

• Arthroscopic microfracture techniques to help fill the defect with blood clot and stem cells
• Osteochondral autograft transfer techniques where plugs of cartilage, together with its supporting bone foundation, are taken from a less critical part of the knee and transplanted to cover the defect
• Autologous cartilage implantation techniques where cartilage cells are harvested from the knee, grown and multiplied in the laboratory, and subsequently implanted back into the joint to cover the defect