Dr. Cole, who is also involved in the Cartilage Restoration Center at Rush Division of Sports Medicine and serves as team physician for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox, said cartilage restructuring is in the business of treating the present — not the future or the past. Cartilage repair, he said, should therefore not be considered prophylactic.
The effect of load size on joints and cartilage is a huge issue, Dr. Cole stated, and many patients have unmet cartilage needs. “When cartilage is gone and bone has started to respond with injury, it’s like a bent rim on a car tire,” Dr. Cole said. “If the rim is bent, you can’t just put on a new tire.”
Cartilage Autograft Implantation System, DeNovo NT juvenile allograft articular cartilage, biologic repair of focal chondral, platelet rich plasma and stem cells are some of the recent and future treatments for cartilage repair, Dr. Cole said. He added that microfracture surgery has become particularly common because it is minimally invasive and has quicker recovery times.
Related Articles on Cartilage Repair:
U.S. Cartilage Repair Market to Grow 6.8% Over Next 4 Years
Study: Cartilage Autograft Implantation System Effective for Focal Chondral Defects
Dr. Brian Cole Uses an Adolescent Donor for Cartilage Restoration on Professional Wrestler
