Knee microfracture surgery

Alternative Names: Cartilage regeneration - knee

Knee microfracture surgery is a common procedure used to repair damaged knee cartilage. Cartilage is the material that helps cushion and cover the area where bones meet in the joints.

Description of Procedure

Three different types of anesthesia may be used for knee arthroscopy surgery:

• Your knee may be numbed with injections of painkilling medicine, along with medicines to relax you
• Spinal (regional) anesthesia
• General anesthesia, where you will be unconscious and pain-free.

The surgeon will make a 1/4-inch-long surgical cut (incision) on your knee.

• Then the surgeon will insert a long, thin device called an arthroscope through this incision. The arthroscope is like a camera. It is attached to a video monitor in the operating room. It allows the surgeon to look inside your knee area and work directly on the joint. See also: Knee arthroscopy
• The surgeon makes another surgical cut and passes tools through this opening. A small pointed tool called an awl is used to make very small holes, called microfractures (tiny breaks), in the bone near the damaged cartilage.
• The holes the surgeon makes in your bone release the cells in your bones that build new cartilage. Your body then builds new cartilage to replace the damaged cartilage.

Risks of Knee microfracture surgery

Risks for any anesthesia are:

• Allergic reactions to medicines
• Breathing problems The risks for any surgery are:
• Bleeding
• Infection
• Blood clot

Risks for microfracture surgery are:

• Cartilage breakdown over time. The new cartilage made by microfracture surgery is not as strong as the body's original cartilage. It can break down more easily.
• Increased stiffness of the knee.

The structure of a joint

Review Date: 7/23/2011
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc; C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Assistant Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

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