Appalachian Orthopedics Doctors Offer Leading-Edge Cartilage Restoration Treatments

Appalachian Orthopedics is offering cartilage restoration procedures, which are innovative treatment options for cartilage damage due to injury, disease or wear and tear. These advanced procedures are performed by Drs. Gabriel Hommel, Bart McKinney, John Phillips and T. Lisle Whitman, who offer consultations for orthopedic concerns in Bristol at the Bristol Regional Medical Center at 1 Medical Park Blvd. in Suite 300 E, and in Johnson City at 3 Professional Park Drive, Suite 21.

Board-certified orthopedic surgeons Drs. Hommel, McKinney, Phillips and Whitman all have specialized training and extensive experience with these procedures. Their expertise includes the assessment and repair of cartilage damage to all major joints, and they each offer a broad range of innovative cartilage restoration procedures using the latest techniques, including:

• Osteochondral autograft transplantation and osteochondral allograft transplant (OATS): Performed by all four cartilage restoration doctors, this procedure involves transferring healthy cartilage to the damaged area, utilizing bone and cartilage plugs taken from a low-load area of the patient’s own knee or donor tissue.
• DeNovo® NT natural tissue graft: Also offered by all four cartilage restoration doctors, this procedure uses cadaver juvenile donor cartilage to repair a damaged area of cartilage.
• Matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI): The patient’s own cartilage cells are harvested through arthroscopic surgery and then grown before being transplanted into the damaged area. MACI is offered by Dr. McKinney.
• Subchondroplasty: This is a minimally invasive, fluoroscopically assisted procedure, performed by Dr. McKinney, that targets and treats subchondral bone defects associated with bone marrow lesions or early osteoarthritis.
• Osteochondritis dissecans repair: Performed by Dr. McKinney, this procedure uses bone grafting and screws to repair the patient’s damaged cartilage.

“We are dedicated to offering our patients the most advanced and state-of-the-art treatments, so we are proud to be offering the latest procedures in cartilage restoration,” says Dr. McKinney. “Our main goal is to do whatever is best for our patients and get them back to their active lifestyles. These procedures can delay or even eliminate the need for more extensive surgeries, and they can be a great minimally invasive option for many patients.”

For more information about treatments available at Appalachian Orthopedics or to schedule an appointment with one of their specialists, please call (423) 434-6300 for the Johnson City office or (423) 844-6450 for the office at the Bristol Regional Medical Center.