Weight-bearing cartilage is attached to the ends of your bones. Traumatic injuries can cause a small area of damage in otherwise excellent cartilage.
The name of the damaged cartilage is Osteo Cartilage Defect (OCD).
There are procedures where your surgeon transplants one or more small plugs of cartilage from a low-demand area of your knee to the spot with the OCD. Another method is to implant living cartilage from a donor. Both methods have a high success rate.
An MRI can identify your OCD that is repairable by these techniques. So, please ask your primary care person for a referral to an orthopedic surgeon that treats OCD.
Walker Wynkoop, M.D., lives in Los Banos and is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with 30 years of experience. He works at Surgical Affiliates of California. Please email questions to Doc@Wynmd.com.
