04
Treatments & Surgery
9 entriesThe surgical and procedural options for cartilage defects — what each one actually is, who it suits, and what the follow-up data says.
Understanding your injury
Marrow stimulation
Cell-based repair
- MACICultured chondrocytes on a membrane — the cell therapy that beat microfracture at 2 and 5 yearsStrong
- ICC / CEMTRO Cell (high-density ACI)Madrid's 5-million-cells-per-cm² variant of ACI — encouraging series, all from one centerPromising
- ACI through three generationsFrom periosteal flap to MACI — what 30 years of chondrocyte implantation actually provedStrong
Scaffolds & grafts
- Agili-CA cell-free coral-derived scaffold with a large RCT behind it — including knees with mild OAPromising
- OATS / mosaicplastyYour own cartilage, moved — the best randomized return-to-sport data, paid for at the donor siteStrong
- Fresh osteochondral allograftDonor cartilage on donor bone — decades of survivorship data, zero randomized trialsPromising