ORTHOPEDICS/HIP & KNEE/MEDICAL PROCESSES
Cartilage Transfer medical operation
The cartilage is the substance in a joint that allows smooth movements.
There are many kinds of cartilage in the body. One of these cartilages located in the knee is the softness cushion in the joints. This cartilage is called Cartilage transfer.
Regrettably, damages and arthritis can cause damage to this cartilage causing pain in motion and causing mostly stiffness, and Inflammation.
When non-aggressive therapy seems unuseful, surgical alternatives may be considered.
One of those alternatives is called a cartilage transfer medical operation.
A cartilage transfer process is a clinical operation that moves vigorous cartilage from a normal to a damaged zone of the knee.
There are two kinds of cartilage transfer processes:
- Mosaicplasty:
A mosaicplasty is a procedure that moves round ‘plugs’ of cartilage and basic bone to damaged zones.
Being a few millimeters in diameter each, the plugs, when moved to a damaged zone constitute a mosaic appearance.
- OATS : Osteochondral Autograft Transfer System
OATS is similar to Mosaicplasty.
The difference is that in the OATS plugs are frequently larger; therefore, only one or two plugs are needed to fill the damaged zone of a cartilage damage.
Note that over the time, the slums keptt from where the plugs were taken will fill with bone’s tissue.
When doing a cartilage Transfer medical operation
Arthroscopic inspection is performed following to a knee damage.
If there is a zone of cartilage damage that is suitable to cartilage transfer, then the Arthroscope is removed and an incision is made.
The cartilage transfer process will typically follow.
The first step is to prepare the damaged cartilage zone:
A coring instrument is used to make a precise round hole in the bone in damaged zone. This hole is going to fit the plug.
The next step is to ‘harvest’ the plug of healthy cartilage.
The final step is to insert the harvested plugs into the hole that was created in the damaged zone.
Note that these kind of surgery can be performed either under general anesthesia, or a local nerve block, as there is no need to overnight stay in the hospital as well.
Retrieval
Patient undergoing a cartilage Transfer surgery will be given crutches or walker to avoid having to place weight on the affected leg.
Specific recovery practices depend on the precise location of the cartilage transfer process.
Commonly, avoiding weight from being placed on the joint is advised at early phases, in addition to the limiting of the motion range.
Usually, recovery after a cartilage transfer operation should take almost six to nine months.
Risks
There are risks related to cartilage transfer medical processes.
Typical risks embrace inflammation and blood lumps.
When they do occur they can be serious difficulties, therefore it is mandatory to follow your surgeon’s instructions that can help avoiding these complications.
A final word
Cartilage transfer medical operation is a therapy alternative for people who have cartilage damage within the knee joint. This same surgical procedure has also been performed in other joint.
Positive results from cartilage transfer medical operation mostly depend on cautious surgical practice, and obedience with postoperative limits.