Bangalore : But for the rare surgery performed by Dr Chirag Thonse, Ashoka would have spent the rest of his life with pain from severe arthritis of his knee joint.
32 -year-old Ashoka had pain and difficulty in walking due to an injury to his knee. Amagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an injury to his knee cartilage (tissue between the joint bones).He was further suggested a diagnostic arthroscopy which revealed a large cartilage defect in that area of the knee joint which bears the body weight.If left untreated, it would have led to early severe arthritis of his knee joint. Dr Thonse advised a cartilage tissue biopsy which was then sent to a culture lab located at Lonavala.Within 4 weeks Ashoka’s cartilage tissue was cultured and multiplied into 24 million chondrocyte (cartilage) cells.These cells were then implanted into the defectin his knee cartilage. With financial aid from BMTC,this rare and most recent advanced cartilage implant surgery was performed at St Martha’s hospital by Dr Chirag Thonse. In fact, only a handful of such surgeries have been performed in south India, says Dr Thonse.
Cartilage can be damagedeither due to trauma from fall, direct blow, forces of rotation, etc. or due to certain diseases. It can leave you with pain, swelling and catching.Routine activities, fast walking,running and jumping can further damage the cartilage.If not treated promptly, you may spend the rest of your life losing more cartilage until it is completely gone leading to constant knee pain which can badly affectyour work, productivity and daily life. Non-surgical treatments like rest, cold/hot packs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and steroid injectionsare non-effective and can give you only short-term pain relief. This can result in long-term loss of function and even more chronic pain.
To avoid further cartilage damagesurgical treatment is advised as early as possible. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is an alternative treatment for total knee replacement with less complication and more rapid rehabilitation than the TKR procedure.ACIcan give better resultsdue to cartilage regeneration.
Also referred to as autologous chondrocyte transplantation,ACI utilizes a patient’s own cells to repair damagedarticular (joint) cartilage to improve joint function and reduce pain. During the procedure articular cartilage cells (chondrocytes) are collected and culturedwhich are then implanted into the cartilage defect in the joint.The cultured cells contribute to the regeneration and repair of the joint surface.This procedure is globally accepted in countries like U.S.A, Europe, and Korea and even to some extent in India. Various studieshave proven that ACI is safe and effective for the treatment of knee cartilage defects.