Every 45 seconds, a patient in the United States undergoes knee replacement surgery — and it’s only getting worse. By 2030, that number is expected to jump nearly 400 percent, to almost half a million patients a year.
Many patients who visit our clinics for treatment are avid runners and exercisers, who, over the years, begin to experience knee pain. What we find is that these runners are commonly injuring their meniscus — the cartilage pad between their thigh and shin bones. Because of the seriousness of this injury, their activity levels can take a huge hit. Not only does the meniscus not repair itself, but over time, it gets worse.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many options for these patients. Once the meniscus is damaged, pain sets in and can ultimately lead to arthritis and knee replacement surgery. In fact, I recently saw a patient who underwent three surgeries to shave off the damaged part of the meniscus, but even afterward, he still experienced pain and still could not run.
We wanted to provide another option for this patient, who suffered a damaged meniscus for years, so our team took an innovative approach. For the first time in the U.S., our team of surgeons at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center implanted a plastic meniscus device into our patient’s knee that should restore much of the function to the damaged meniscus. If this implant works as well as we hope, it will fill a gap in our treatment spectrum for patients who experience these kinds of knee injuries.
After this procedure, patients do not need prolonged protected weight bearing or braces. They can wean themselves off crutches when they’re comfortable and progress to normal activities as tolerated. We’re hoping this implant will not only alleviate pain in these patients, but help them delay or avoid knee replacement surgery altogether.
Studies show that almost half of all running injuries are knee injuries. Unfortunately, especially for older runners, tears can sometimes happen quite easily. For instance, meniscus tears can occur when a runner takes a misstep or twists, pivots or compresses the knee joint in the wrong way. It can also happen during acceleration or direction changes. Traditionally, if the tear is in the central area where there are fewer blood vessels, the tissue may not ever heal and may need to be removed through surgery.
What’s more, running with a torn meniscus will only make matters worse, as this cartilage helps dissipate impact forces when exercising. A torn meniscus not only greatly decreases the knee’s ability to cushion joint movement, but also causes pain when the knee bends. If you continue to run with a torn meniscus, you risk causing long-term damage to your knee. This could typically mean a knee operation and many months of rest and recovery. Now, we want to provide a simpler solution.
This meniscus implant has significant implications for all runners and exercisers, but specifically for the aging active individual. This is especially relevant now as the aging baby boomers are the first generation in history that expects to continue to be active as they get older. This trend is expected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. This new device has the potential to keep patients on their feet longer and improve their quality of life, both now and in the future.
In an effort to gain regulatory approval, the NUsurface Meniscus Implant is currently in an FDA-approved multi-center, randomized, control trial comparing it to the current standard-of-care for patients with persistent knee pain following meniscus surgery. The NUsurface Meniscus Implant is made by Active Implants LLC, the technology leader in cushion bearing orthopaedics.
Dr. Christopher Kaeding became the first U.S. surgeon to implant the NUsurface Meniscus Implant into a patient who had suffered for years from a damaged meniscus. He is the executive director of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Sports Medicine program in Columbus.
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Artificial Cartilage Could Protect Runners From Arthritis, Knee Replacements originally appeared on usnews.com
