Autologous chondrocyte implantation India fixes cartilage damage in young

April 20, 2014 - PRLog -- Young Indian patients suffering from long standing knee pain following a sports injury can now avail of a minimally invasive surgical procedure. This procedure nips cartilage damage in the bud and prevents it from progression to osteo-arthritis. Suitable candidates should have stable ligaments and not be obese

The solution is called ‘Autologous chondrocyte implantation’. It utilizes your own cartilage cells obtained by a small biopsy to repair small to medium areas of cartilage damage.  It is a two stage procedure. The first stage consists of harvesting a small piece of cartilage from the non-weight portion of your knee. This plug is sent to a laboratory in India. Here scientists extract cells from this plug and grow it several million fold in culture. The cells are removed from cold storage and sent to the surgeon after a period of four weeks.  The surgeon then prepares the area of damage through a small open or key-hole procedure and implants the cells. The cells go on to repair the damage over the next few months. By a year, original or hyaline cartilage grows back to repair the damage in most cases. In a small number, reparative cartilage grows. In both cases the patients get pain relief.  This procedure is a fourth generation procedure and is known as a ‘cell gell’ technique.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr.A.K.Venkatachalam, FRCS, M.Ch Orth has performed this procedure in a thirty eight year old male patient.

Case report-
This patient is a business man from a neighboring country. He developed knee pain not from sports but routine activities.  He had symptoms of pain and grinding. He consulted the doctor about three months back.  High resolution MRI scans revealed two areas of cartilage damage in the patella and adjacent part of the trochlea of the medial femoral condyle.  This was confirmed at arthroscopic evaluation. During this procedure, a small piece of cartilage was removed and dispatched to the laboratory. Four weeks later Dr.Venkatachalam implanted the cartilage by an open procedure. Usually a minimally invasive procedure is sufficient but in this case there were two lesions which required adequate exposure to do justice to both of them.  The patient has already got pain relief. He no longer feels a grinding feeling in his knee. The patient has been started on a rehabilitation program. He will have to wear a knee brace for a short period. By three months, he will get full mobility in his knee.

Cartilage lesions are increasing in Asian countries from sports injuries and accidents. Most patients are young.  They often have associated ligament injuries. Mal-alignment of the limb may be also present. Cartilage injury is suspected when the patient has long standing pain during activities. Initially x rays may be normal. Only high resolution MRI scans can pick it up at the early stages.

Autologous chondrocyte implantation is a new procedure in India. It was introduced in 1994. It has enjoyed a good success rate abroad.
Dr.A.K.Venkatachalam is one of the few surgeons to have performed this procedure in the country. He was one of the first surgeons to commence the first generation cartilage repair procedure, ‘microfracture’ in Chennai, India in 2004. See this press release from a national newspaper   http://www.hindu.com/2005/02/08/stories/2005020812550600.htm.

Dr.A.K.Venkatachalam specializes in joint replacements of knee, hip and shoulder. He was the first surgeon to introduce the Journey Oxinium™ knee in India. He has the distinction of tweeting the first live knee replacement in India in June 2009. He was among the first surgeons to introduce custom fit knee replacement in Chennai.  He started doing neck sparing or short stem hip replacements in 2006.  He also has a keen interest in arthroscopic surgery of the knee. He is one of the first to introduce bio-medical treatments like autologous chondrocyte implantation in Chennai, India.
For more information, visit www.kneeindia.com.