Pottstown Memorial Medical Center Establishes Cartilage Repair Program

Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC) has created a Cartilage Repair Program for patients with cartilage injuries. The Program's goal is to incorporate the latest treatment methods for restoring damaged cartilage, with the goals of preventing the onset or progression of osteoarthritis, and being able to return patients to the highest level of function as possible.  Patients are treated at the hospital’s new Center for Bone & Joint Health.

Cartilage injury is the most common source of knee pain.  The cause may be secondary to injury, or may develop gradually without trauma.  Areas of damage may cause pain and at time swelling; both of which make it difficult to maintain an active lifestyle.  The cartilage does not regenerate once damaged, and can cause pain and mobility restrictions. 
“Injuries to the cartilage can degenerate over time and result in deteriorated joint surfaces,” explained Dr. Alan Cooper, orthopedic surgeon and director of the Cartilage Repair Program. “When lesions develop, they may severely hinder a patient's normal daily activities and ability to work or play sports.”

PMMC’s Cartilage Repair Program, one of the only programs of its kind in Southeastern Pennsylvania, offers patients new technologies that offer options to younger patients whose only alternative previously had been to live with the pain or undergo joint replacement surgery.  The treatment options utilize natural biological methods instead of replacing the cartilage with metal and plastic.

The two primary options available to patients in the program include:

• Autologous chondrocyte implantation.  This technique uses a small piece of the patient’s cartilage to grow more cartilage cells.  In four to 12 week, the new cartilage cells are implanted into the knee and will grow into nearly normal articular cartilage with good long-term results.
• Osteochondral replacements. Bone and tissue of a patient’s non-weight bearing portion of the knee, or that of a cadaver, are used as a replacement for the damaged bone and cartilage.

“Depending on the patient’s age, the degree of injury, and their activity level, we can select the technique that would be most beneficial,” explained Dr. Cooper, who was introduced to the treatment techniques while completing a fellowship in sports medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.  “We are able to perform these procedures using minimally invasive techniques which means a quicker recovery for patients.”

Cartilage/Add one

For nineteen-year-old Joseph Nagy, a resident of Pottstown, having an autologous chondrocyte implantation in his knee enabled healthy cartilage to grow back and a new lease on life.  “Before the surgery, I had limited range of motion in my right leg, and I could not support as much weight on that knee as I could on my left one,” Nagy explained.  “The knee would occasionally buckle, and become stiff, which affected my participation in sports and everyday life.”
As a student at the University of Scranton, Nagy is able to walk the hills of the large campus with ease.  “If I hadn't had the surgery, I would not have been able to get around the university and climb stairs without being in pain,” said Nagy.  Thanks to Dr. Cooper and the staff at PMMC, I feel great and can live life to the fullest.”

Dr. Cooper added that “for young adults like Joseph, cartilage repair can prevent further degeneration from occurring, and reducing the need for knee replacement in the future.  Without the surgery, arthritis would develop and more serious complications could set in.  Now Joseph is pain free and has returned to an active lifestyle.”

For more information on PMMC’s Cartilage Repair Program, please call 610-705-3055.