Cartilage Restoration

At Appalachian Orthopedics, we are dedicated to offering the latest and most advanced treatments and procedures to keep you active. That’s why we offer cartilage restoration for cartilage damage due to injury, disease, or wear and tear.

Our cartilage restoration experts specialize in the assessment and repair of cartilage damage to all major joints and offer a broad range of innovative cartilage restoration procedures using the latest techniques, including:

Osteochondral Autograft Transplantation and Osteochondral Allograft Transplant (OATS)

• Autograft: This procedure involves transferring healthy cartilage to the damaged area utilizing bone and cartilage plugs taken from a low-load area of the knee.
  • Performed by Dr. Gabriel Hommel, Dr. Bart McKinney, Dr. John Phillips, and Dr. T. Lisle Whitman
• Allograft: Similar to the autograft procedure, the allograft procedure transfers bone and cartilage plugs to the damaged area; however, donor tissue is used instead of the patient’s own tissue.
  • Performed by Dr. Gabriel Hommel, Dr. Bart McKinney, Dr. John Phillips, and Dr. T. Lisle Whitman

DeNovo® NT Natural Tissue Graft

• This procedure uses cadaver juvenile donor cartilage to repair a damaged area of cartilage.
  • Performed by Dr. Gabriel Hommel, Dr. Bart McKinney, Dr. John Phillips, and Dr. T. Lisle Whitman

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.
  • Performed by Dr. Bart McKinney

Osteochondritis Dissecans Repair

• This procedure uses bone grafting and screws to repair the patient's damaged cartilage.
  • Performed by Dr. Bart McKinney

 Subchondroplasty

• This is a minimally-invasive, fluoroscopically assisted procedure that targets and treats subchondral bone defects associated with bone marrow lesions or early osteoarthritis.
  • Performed by Dr. Bart McKinney

To learn more about cartilage restoration, schedule an appointment with one of our experts by requesting an appointment online or call our locations in Bristol or Johnson City.