replace? or repair?

[brkck1]

may 2010 had surgery for torn medial cartilage,  now, in feb 2011 i'm looking at having approx. 35% of the same removed because it's "retorn",   the question is,  will this only prolong the inevitable replacement?  as a mechanic, i depend on FULL range of motion,  both left and right knees have had the identical surgery thus far.

[Imajerk]

What about all these new chondrocyte growth based cartilage replacements I read about? Why are these restricted to only certain patients and what is the outlook for the future of these treatments?

[sara_eagle]

Are you talking about articular cartilage- which is on the bone - or are you talking about the meniscus??  Either way, if you have a tear of the cartilage, you need to have it taken care of because the longer you let it go, the more wear it will cause on the joint.  A meniscal tear that goes untreated is like sandpaper in your knee and will rub on the articular cartilage and cause damage and can lead to arthritis or an exacerbation of any current arthritis.  Good luck!

[Dr Vinod]

Hello!

It is very important for your knee ligaments to heal. You can go for arthroscopic surgical repair for your ligament tears. Talk with an expert orthopedician.

The long term complications of unstable knee are the development of arthritis and for this the best treatment is knee replacement surgery.

Take care!