3 Cartilage Restoration Perth | Cartilage Replacement Murdoch, Claremont, Kalgoorlie

Cartilage Reconstruction

The common techniques employed for cartilage restoration include cartilage replacement and cartilage repair & transplantation.

What is Cartilage Replacement?

Cartilage replacement is a surgical procedure performed to replace the worn-out cartilage with new cartilage. It is usually performed to treat patients with small areas of cartilage damage usually caused by sports or traumatic injuries. It is not indicated for those patients who have advanced arthritis of the knee. Articular or hyaline cartilage is the tissue that covers bone surface of the knee which helps in smooth interaction between the two bones in the knee joint. It has less capacity to repair by itself because there is no direct blood supply to cartilage.

Cartilage Replacement Procedure


  • Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI): This is a two-step procedure, where healthy cartilage cells are removed from the non-weight-bearing joint, grown in the laboratory and then implanted in the cartilage defect during the second procedure. During this procedure, a patch is harvested from the periosteum, a layer of thick tissue that covers the bone and is sewn over the defective area using fibrin glue. The new cartilage cells are then injected under the periosteum into the cartilage defect to allow the growth of new cartilage cells.
  • Osteochondral Autograft Transplantation: In this procedure, plugs of cartilage are taken from the non-weight-bearing areas of knee, from the same individual and transferred to the damaged areas of the joint. This method is used to treat smaller cartilage defects since the graft which is taken from the same individual will be limited.

Following cartilage replacement, Dr Maor will recommend physical therapy to help restore mobility to the affected joint.


What is Cartilage Transplantation?
