|
Lower End of Arthritic
Femur Showing Eroded
Joint Surface
After Knee Replacement
Knee Replacement
from Above
Best viewed
at 800x600 resolution
on IE5 or Netscape 4.6
|
|
.
The orthopaedic
surgeon's dream is to take patients with painful arthritic joints, culture
some new cartilage cells (chondrocytes), and then to inject them into the
worn out joints to rejuvenate them. Unfortunately, at the moment this
wonderful idea is still a dream and seems likely to remain so for many years
to come. Making it come true in the future will be close to unlocking the
secret of everlasting life!
Research into cartilage transplantation is not actually new, it's been going
on for many years but techniques are still relatively crude and the results
of cartilage transplantation take a long time to assess; in the case of the
knee joint this may require regular follow up with arthroscopy. In the clinical
context cartilage transplantation has tended to be reserved for young
individuals with joints that have been damaged by trauma, and it would be
fair to say that in this small group some encouraging results have been
reported. But even so there is still a long way to go before a wider
application can be considered a practical proposition.
For the time being therefore prosthetic joint replacement, probably the
biggest surgical success story of modern times, will continue to be the order
of the day for arthritis sufferers wherever they may be.
Click here for:-
Common
Questions relating to Knee Replacement
Surgical Procedures 
|
|
