I heard there’s a way to use my own cartilage to repair torn knee cartilage. When I tore the cartilage in my knee, the doctor just removed it. Is this new?

Using a patient’s own cartilage to replace torn or missing cartilage was first tried in 1994. Actually, researchers tried this method on animals and human cadavers first before using it on live humans.

Since that time, there have been reports on more than 5,000 cases. No doubt, there are many more that have been done but haven’t been reported on. The reported results have been very good. The operation has been improved in the years since it was first done.

Doctors no longer cut the knee open to place the new cartilage in place. A tool called an arthroscope is used to insert the new patch of cartilage right into the joint. It’s stitched in place with sutures that will dissolve and don’t have to be removed.