If you have knee pain, you must speak to an orthopedic specialist about your health issue. Today, several treatments are used to assist patients who have cartilage damage and a hard time walking or enjoying daily activities.
Defining ACI
One of the less-invasive methods is known as Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation, or ACI. ACI is a cell-based technique that uses a patient’s chondrocytes or cartilage cells to repair the articular or joint cartilage in the knee. When implanted into an injury site, the chondrocytes form new cartilage that resembles the patient’s original cartilage. A joint restoration and preservation specialist in Jacksonville FL can perform the surgery.
A Two-step Process
ACI is a simple, two-step process. The procedure has become a trend among joint restoration and preservation specialist doctors, because an ACI enables doctors to repair articular cartilage injuries by implanting a patient’s own autologous cartilage cells. As an added benefit, practitioners can now repair an injury to a joint surface and make it almost “new” again.
How Cells are Harvested
In order to accomplish preparation, a joint restoration and preservation specialist uses harvested cells from a non-weight bearing area of a joint. Then, the cells are grown under sterile and stringent conditions for surgery. In a second operative process, a piece of the bone’s lining or another allograft biologic material is placed over the defect. Cells are implanted under this covering and into the closed space that it creates.
Effective if Not Impressive Results
Practices such as Injury Care Center find this type of procedure effective. In several cases, patients who have experienced chronic knee pain in Jacksonville FL for over two decades become instantly pain-free. Furthermore, regarding patients who have a hole in the femoral condyle of the knee joint, ACI has prevented the onset of osteoarthritis. To know more, visit Injury Care Centers.
