One-Step Cartilage Repair for Knee Injuries

Researchers at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands claim to have developed the world’s first one-step repair operation for damaged knee cartilage.

The new procedure removes cartilage cells surgically from the damaged knee and mixes them with specially selected donor stem cells. This cell mixture is then applied to the damaged area in the knee during the same operation. The advantage for patient is that only one procedure is required rather than two at a three-month interval. Researchers contend the new surgical technique is less burdensome for patients, cuts treatment time and reduces costs by as much as 75 percent.

Some patients are eligible for a cartilage transplant, and while this treatment is effective, it is an expensive procedure requiring two steps: taking a biopsy to harvest cartilage cells to be cultured, and then a second operation three months later to place the cultured cartilage back in the knee. With this new technique, the surgeon removes the damaged cartilage edges and mixes the patient’s own cartilage cells with selected donor stem cells and tissue glue. This makes the time-consuming culturing of cartilage redundant. The mixture is immediately placed back in the knee, after which the damage repairs itself and the patient can recover.