When you approach an ortho surgeon at Cartilage Transplant Knee, they will conduct a physical examination of your knee and ask you basic questions about causes and symptoms. Based on your answers, they will suggest the best diagnostic measures for the issue. X-ray and MRI are two of the most common diagnostic tests used in the case of a knee cartilage transplant. However, damage in the cartilage cannot be detected with a normal MRI. At Cartilage Transplant Knee, we perform finer MRI (cartilage sequence MRI) to detect the precise issue and identify the damage to your knee cartilage. With years of experience in the sector, our ortho doctors will provide you with detailed results and explain exactly what is wrong with your knee.
Effective diagnosis will allow the doctor to determine your knee cartilage damage stage. This stage determines the treatment that should follow and the suitable actions to be performed by the doctors.
This is the stage where your knee cartilage softens and/or swells because of undue pressure, twisting, or conditions like osteoarthritis. Damage at this stage can be tackled with non-surgical procedures.
This is the stage characterized by partial loss of thickness in the cartilage with fissures appearing on the surface. However, these fissures have not reached the subchondral bone. Damage at this stage can also be tackled with non- surgical procedures.
At this stage, the damage to your knee cartilage is more severe as the fissuring extends to the subchondral bone. Damage at this stage often requires knee cartilage transplant surgery.
This is the final stage of knee cartilage damage, where the subchondral bone gets exposed. Damage at this stage calls for a knee cartilage transplant surgery.
In the case of stage 3 or stage 4 damage, your doctor will recommend a knee cartilage transplant surgery. This surgery involves taking a section of healthy tissue (graft) and replacing the damaged cartilage with the same. The ortho surgeons at Cartilage Transplant Knee perform two major types of knee cartilage transplant surgeries: