Repair, Regeneration and Replacement of Knee Cartilage

Articular Cartilage and Meniscus Cartilage are both found in the knees. The knee may move freely thanks to articular cartilage. A cushion or shock absorber between the bones is provided by the meniscus cartilage.

It may be necessary to repair or replace the damaged cartilage in the knee as a result of accidents, sports injuries, and years of ordinary wear and tear. Osteoarthritis is the term for Cartilage Degradation.

One of the most important protections in the knee joint is the cartilage. The ends of the bones are protected by knee cartilage, which also serves as a natural shock absorber. The outcome is that your knee joints can move easily and smoothly thanks to knee cartilage. Unfortunately, cartilage in the knee can regrow by itself. There are natural ways to Regenerate, Replace, and Repair the Cartilage in our knees!

What Is Cartilage

Smooth, durable, and flexible connective tissue known as cartilage allows bones to move more easily. It is a rubber-like padding that serves as a stress absorber between joints and covers the ends of bones that form joints.

The cushion at the end of our bones, known as cartilage, protects our bones from rubbing against one another and inducing pain. When we stand, move our wrists, or sit, it is flexible enough to alter its shape and absorb compressions in our joints. 

Collagen, proteoglycans, water, and chondrocytes are the four components of cartilage. 70% of the cartilage is made of water, and as we stand, it absorbs the compression like a sponge. Your knee joints are covered in cartilage, which covers the end of the bone, modifies its shape, and squeezes water. The water that was released to your joints when you stood up is reabsorbed by the cartilage once you sit down. 

What Is Damage to Articular Cartilage

Unlike other tissues like the skin, cartilage has a low blood supply. Any damage to the cartilage makes the bones beneath rub against one another, causing excruciating pain and immobility of the joint.Although the shoulder, ankle, and other joints can also be impacted by cartilage damage, it typically happens in the knee joint.

Damage to the cartilage symptoms

• Joint pain, both when the afflicted joint is unloaded and loaded with weight
• swollen area around the injured joint stiffness and restriction of joint movement
• sensation of clicking or grinding
• Having a Hard Time Climbing Stairs.

Cartilage Repair

Cartilage is not very good at healing itself. Therefore, surgery may be required for patients who report with joint dysfunction (e.g., knee, ankle, hip, elbow) linked to a painful cartilage or chondral lesion. Successful Cartilage Repair Surgery in India lessens pain and improves performance. The appropriateness of each of the different cartilage repair treatment options depends on the particular clinical issue that each patient is experiencing. 

To put it simply, Cartilage Repair Surgery in India produces strong cartilage-like tissue around the joint where the cartilage has been worn down or destroyed. Surgical intervention is frequently necessary for Regrowth of Cartilage. In order to successfully repair articular cartilage, synthetic adjuncts are frequently required. Adults lack the inherent ability to regenerate fresh articular cartilage. This capability can only exist in a developing fetus within the womb. Surgery to restore cartilage is difficult because of that.

Someone who has a single isolated articular cartilage deficiency is the Best Candidate for Cartilage Repair in India. The patient’s knee should be largely uninjured and free of arthritis-related widespread cartilage loss. The knee that is being treated needs to be stable and well-aligned (no ligament deficits). All ages can undergo cartilage repair, but those under 50 are most frequently treated.

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Cartilage Regeneration

A novel method to restore knee cartilage that has been worn down or injured is cartilage regeneration. During the treatment, known as Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI), healthy cartilage cells are removed from the injured knee, cultured in a lab for four to six weeks, and then injected into the damaged joint to help it repair along with the surrounding cartilage. Some individuals may be candidates for this minimally invasive technique if they have one or two isolated areas of cartilage loss that develop over time. Patients with more severe injury could need to have their knees replaced.

Articular cartilage, which acts as a cushion between bone terminals, is replaced by Cartilage Regeneration in India. When cartilage is worn down or injured, sensitive nerve ends on one bone contact another, resulting in pain. Because cartilage lacks a blood supply, it has a limited capacity for self-repair. Some patients may be able to postpone having to have damaged joints replaced by surgery thanks to cartilage regeneration and muscle strengthening around the joint.

Knee Cartilage Replacement

Osteochondral Autograft Transplantation or Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation treatments are the most common Types of Knee Cartilage Replacement in India. Autologous chondrocyte implantation is the third choice.

Osteochondral autograft transplantation makes use of the patient’s own cartilage.

• A small, round plug of healthy cartilage, together with a very small amount of underlying bone, is surgically removed from the knee joint’s non-weight-bearing region. The surgeon inserts the plug in the area that has to be healed.
• One or more relatively minor cartilage abnormalities in a knee may be repaired using this OATs treatment. The operation is known as mosaicplasty when more than one plug is utilized to correct a single cartilage lesion.
• The procedure is often performed arthroscopically.

Osteochondral allograft transplantation makes use of cartilage from a cadaver or an outside source.

• A round plug of sound cartilage is cut out by the surgeon from an external donor.
• When a cartilage defect needs to be corrected and is larger than 2 cm, an allograft is typically employed.
• Typically, this procedure necessitates an open incision.

The implantation of autologous chondrocytes depends on recently formed cartilage cells. There must be two separate procedures.

• A small piece of healthy cartilage is first removed from a non-weight-bearing portion of the knee joint during arthroscopic surgery on the patient. New cartilage cells can form when that cartilage is cultivated.
• A second operation is carried out three to five weeks following the initial procedure to implant the newly generated cartilage cells into the injured knee joint.
• This second procedure involves an open incision and is not performed arthroscopically.
• When there are several cartilage injuries that need to be repaired or when the cartilage injury is substantial (up to several centimeters), this operation might be advised.

The size of the cartilage injury being treated, the surgeon’s experience, and his or her advice will all influence which cartilage replacement surgery is chosen.

References

• https://www.brighamandwomens.org/medical-resources/cartilage-regeneration
• https://www.sports-health.com/treatment/knee-injury-treatment/knee-cartilage-repair-regeneration-and-replacement
• https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/orthopaedic-surgery/specialty-areas/sports-medicine/cartilage-regeneration
• https://www.hss.edu/condition-list_cartilage-repair.asp