![]() "Our unique multidisciplinary team looks at all aspects of a patient's care. "If a cartilage repair procedure fails, it's generally because not enough attention was paid to other factors - the meniscus or the knee's alignment or stability," Dr. Mayo Clinic also has the breadth of orthopedic expertise to manage problems that patients often experience alongside damaged knee cartilage, such as varus deformity and anterior cruciate ligament or meniscus lesions. "Our physiotherapists and athletic trainers also determine prior to surgery how we can optimize the patient's musculoskeletal control and function, and then work with the patient on rehab after surgery," Dr. Before surgery, advanced imaging helps pinpoint the cartilage defect. Mayo Clinic's multidisciplinary approach provides the range of care needed by patients at all stages of knee cartilage repair. "But apart from sports, patients can go back to normal life within days and physical activities within three to four months of surgery," Dr. They generally need to wait nine to 12 months before a full return to sports that interval provides time for the cartilage to grow and the patient to regain muscle control. Most patients return home on the day of surgery. "You have to find an intricate balance - loading enough cells to grow into healthy tissue but not overloading the space so the cells are squished when the patient starts rehab." "This is a highly innovative procedure," Dr. Mixing the chondrons with allogeneic stem cells from the stem cell bank provides sufficient cells to immediately re-inject into the patient. The resected tissue is processed and, using a rapid isolation protocol, digested into chondrons. "But we found that the cells in that tissue are still very viable. "That tissue is always a bit frilly and is normally discarded," Dr. RECLAIM's innovation starts with saving the patient's debrided tissue. "We wanted to improve this technique because during the waiting period, the patient's life is on hold, costs increase and the logistics can be complex," Dr. The biopsy is cultured in an outside laboratory, and the cultured cells are implanted weeks later. Recycling patient cellsĮxisting cell therapy to repair knee cartilage generally involves surgically debriding the cartilage defect and then taking a biopsy of healthy cartilage from the patient. The procedure might be suitable for nonarthritic patients ages 18 to 50 who have fresh cartilage defects. RECLAIM is used to repair symptomatic cartilage defects, usually resulting from trauma or an athletic injury. Planning is underway for a clinical trial at Mayo Clinic. "The results, about four years out, are very good - comparable to or better than other cell therapies, except these patients achieve normal function after surgery about six months more quickly," he says. Saris previously performed the RECLAIM cartilage repair technique in Europe. The procedure can be completed in a single surgery.ĭr. RECLAIM mixes chondrons from debrided tissue with donor autologous stem cells to create a biologic filler for the repair of damaged knee cartilage.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |