More suitable for smaller cartilage lesions. The joint is visualized with a scope through tiny incisions around the joint. The cartilage problem is localized, and displaced cartilage fragments are removed. After achieving stable cartilage edges, different cartilage restoration techniques may be utilized like microdrilling.

Ideal for large cartilage defects and revision cases. This is a two-stage procedure. In the first stage, a cartilage biopsy is taken from the patient’s joint, and this tissue is sent to a specialized laboratory. Chondrocytes are duplicated in the lab on a special tissue patch. The patch with cartilage cells is sent to our clinic six weeks after the biopsy, when the second-stage procedure is scheduled. In the second-stage procedure, the joint is opened, and the cartilage defect is filled with the same size biopatch. Chondrocytes in the patch produce cartilage tissue and fill the cartilage defect over time.

Appropriate for medium-sized defects, especially accompanying subchondral bone problems like subchondral cysts. This is a single-stage procedure. A dowel-like osteochondral tissue is taken from a non-weight-bearing and non-articulating area of the patient’s knee. This cartilage tissue, with the bone under it, is the cause of the cartilage defect. The defect is drilled with the same size of the dowel as an osteochondral graft. The graft is placed into the defect.

This procedure can solve the most extensive cartilage problems in a single stage. During the arthroplasty procedure of a live donor, large and healthy cartilage allograft tissue is taken from the unaffected part of the joint. Also, these tissues can be ordered from tissue banks that have been created from fresh cadavers. The joint of the recipient patient is opened, and the cartilage defect is filled with allogenic osteochondral tissue.