Revolutionary Technique
Restores Damaged Knee Cartilage
If you could “turn back the clock” on an injured knee to a time when it performed at its peak, chances are you’d do it without a second thought.
Using highly advanced cartilage restoration techniques, orthopedic surgeons on staff at Ingalls are doing just that, offering patients as close to a complete recovery as they can get – without knee replacement surgery.
“More than two million Americans suffer cartilage injuries to the knee each year, resulting in pain and swelling that make it difficult to maintain an active lifestyle,” explains Mark Nikkel, D.O., board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist.
Left untreated, damaged cartilage may eventually necessitate a partial or total knee replacement. That’s where autologous cartilage cell implantation, or ACI, comes in.
“ACI is one of the most advanced techniques available for cartilage regeneration,” Dr. Nikkel said. “This revolutionary two-part technique allows us to harvest cells from a patient’s own cartilage, grow them in a lab and then later implant them in the injured knee.”
Following a simple arthroscopic procedure, the harvested cells are biologically engineered and grown in a culture where they reproduce in the millions.
These cells are re-implanted in the knee to repair and resurface areas where there’s been cartilage loss. Over time, the cells fill in the damaged area, restoring the knee to near normal function.
Complete recovery can take up to a year or more, with an extended period of time on crutches.
But 19-year-old Sean Athy of Palos Heights says the end result is definitely worth the wait.
Athy, who injured his left knee in a high school wrestling match, underwent the two-part ACI procedure with Dr. Nikkel starting in late 2007. In 2008, the biologically engineered new cartilage was implanted, and today, Athy is almost fully recovered.
“I can’t run just yet, but I can ride a bike and work out at the gym,” he says. “Dr. Nikkel has been really happy with the progress that I’ve made. I plan on taking up martial arts once I’m completely healed.”
Benefits of ACI
“With ACI, complications are rare, and in most cases, the procedure restores pain-free knee joint movement,” Dr. Nikkel added.
And because ACI uses the patient’s own cells, there is no danger of rejection by the immune system, which appealed to 45-year-old Dennis Gravitt, a financial planner from Frankfort.
An avid runner and marathoner, Gravitt began his ACI experience in May 2008.
“In the past, the death knell for runners was a cartilage injury,” he said. “I didn’t want a knee replacement. I definitely prefer to have my own tissue used in a knee repair. I’m very optimistic that I’ll run again.”
While the procedure is effective for nearly 90 percent of patients, ACI isn’t appropriate for everyone. A younger person with a traumatic knee injury can benefit from this procedure, but older people with advanced osteoarthritis may not be good candidates. Talk to your physician about whether this procedure is right for you.
If you need a physician referral, call 1.800.221.2199.
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